The Wizard
by Forever A Fantasy
Summary: Harry begins his first year at Hogwarts after leaving the Hidden Leaf. Book 2 in the Magical Jinchūriki series.
1. Chapter 1

They landed with a clatter in a small marble room about the size of a supply cupboard. It was completely empty aside from the torches mounted on the walls. There were no windows, the only light coming from the torches. The firelight was much softer than the electric bulbs used in the Hidden Leaf but it left them vulnerable to what may be lurking in the abundance of shadows the flickering light created.

The only way in or out was a single bronze door. The door's edge was carved with intricate designs inlaid with gold. The door lent validity to the letter that claimed to be from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He could think of no other place aside from a bank that would need such an ornate door.

He couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face. He felt a flutter of hope that wherever they now were they were free from the stigma of the jinchūriki that had haunted them in their Hidden Villages. He took a deep breath feeling ready to begin fresh in this new place, at least for the next month or maybe he would stay longer. He hadn't yet made up his mind.

He reached down without thinking to pull Gaara to his feet. He saw Gaara's shocked expression when he grasped his hand. He felt his stomach sink when he realized that his friend didn't expect kindness even when it came from him. He would change that. He attempted to let go not wanting Gaara to feel uncomfortable but Gaara held onto his hand tightly. He glanced at Gaara again but he was looking at the ceiling not him. His cheeks were a little flushed and he had never seen his eyes so full of life. It was almost like no one had ever been willing to touch him before. With a shrug he looked up to see what had caught Gaara's attention.

There were painted images on the ceiling of things he had never seen before. More important than what the images were of was the fact that the images were moving. It was unlike any jutsu he had ever seen. In fact he felt the golden power inside him shifting in swirls. He got the impression that the golden power was happy about being there.

Taking a deep breath he turned his attention back to the only exit. He squeezed Gaara's hand for comfort pulling him toward the door. Once he was close enough he could see strange writing carved into the centre of the door. With a snap his golden power allowed him to read it just like it had when his letter first arrived.

The carving on the door was a poem:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

The golden power surged again once he finished reading the words in his head. He felt the power snap into place within his mind. He knew he would not be able to steal from this bank just as he had known that Sasuke and Sakura could not betray his trust when they swore to keep Kurama's death and the resultant transformation a secret.

"Can you read the words?" he asked Gaara.

Gaara nodded with a frown on his face. He seemed to be distracted by his own thoughts so Hadrian let him be, for now. He pushed on the door firmly expecting it to be locked. He was surprised at how easily it swung open. The well oiled hinges prevented the door from making a sound so their arrival could have gone unnoticed if he had anything other than an orange sweat suit to wear.

His eyes widened as he peeked around the side of the door. There was a vast marble hall on the other side. About a hundred stumpy little creatures with very long fingers were sitting on high stools behind a long counter. They were scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses, and doing other bank-like things. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall in addition to the one they would enter by once he determined it was safe. Hanging from the ceiling was the largest crystal chandelier he had ever seen. The ceiling itself was made entirely of glass that looked up at a gloomy grey sky.

Deciding there was no immediate danger he pulled Gaara toward the nearest free creature sitting at the marble counter. They walked up to the counter drawing the stares of several of the bank's other patrons who were looking at him and Gaara, or rather their outfits, strangely. He assumed it was because their clothes were very different in style to the long flowing robes the other patrons wore. What did surprise him was that there were no shortage of bright colours among the soft loose fabrics. It was clear that these people were not fans of blending in to the environment. But even with so many bright colours on display he could only see one other person in orange but their's was a much softer sunset shade. He decided the first thing he would do once he got access to his trust fund would be to buy a new wardrobe of nicely coloured robes.

"Hello," he greeted the creature behind the counter.

It bared its tiny sharp teeth in an approximation of a smile which looked more like a disgusted sneer. The thing's small, beady black eyes examined him and Gaara from top to bottom before dismissing Gaara who had yet to do anything but stare the thing down with narrowed suspicious eyes. He didn't let his discomfort show on his face as he waited for the thing to speak. He hoped it would understand his language as the voices around him were speaking a language that made no sense at all.

"Do you have your key?" the creature said with a growling, but not deep voice.

The thing was able to speak in his language which relieved him of some of his worry. Unlike most of the creatures scurrying about in red and gold uniforms the ones behind the counter all had black robes similar to the other patrons but more simple and less soft and flowing. He didn't know what kind of key the creature was asking for. He did however have the letter the bank had sent him. He put it on the counter pushing it toward the thing to signal it should take it.

"I only have this letter," he told the creature as it lifted the letter to its face.

Understanding lit up the clever pointed face, "Mr. Potter, welcome to Gringotts. Garnok is the goblin in charge of your accounts. He will come to speak with you shortly."

It was nice knowing what the creatures were called. It would be nice to no longer have to call them creatures and things in his head, it had felt rude when they were clearly an intelligent if not human species. Having said his piece the goblin quickly wrote a note on a piece of very thick paper. He sent it off with the first red and gold uniformed goblin that passed him.

"Is there something else?" the goblin asked quite rudely.

"Can you exchange currency?" he asked pulling his bag off of his back.

"We can," the goblin told him.

Gaara who had his funds in the pocket of his pants emptied his wallet onto the counter first. The goblin counted the currency before making a mark in the ledger that was open on his side of the counter. He reached beneath the counter brining up a small stack of gold coins. He counted out ten gold coins, fifteen silver coins, and four bronze coins.

"Ten galleons, fifteen sickles and four knuts," the goblin said passing the coins to Gaara.

He wasn't sure how much robes cost but for the amount of money Gaara gave the goblin it didn't seem like he was getting much back. He waited for Gaara to take the coins and put then away. He finally found his own wallet filled with all the money he had when he left the Hidden Leaf. He laid out his money on the counter, he felt like he had brought a little more than Gaara as his friend hadn't had a chance to empty out his savings.

"Twenty-five galleons, ten sickles, 2 knuts," the goblin counted out. He slid the sickles, knuts, and a few the gold coins into his frog wallet but they were much bigger than the coins used in the hidden villages. He swept the rest loose into his bag figuring he could clean it out later. The goblin sneered at him and he felt his cheeks redden.

They moved to the side to allow the next customer in line to speak with the goblin. The person who was dressed in bright blue robes handed the goblin a small golden key before the goblin could ask. He assumed that was what the goblin had originally been asking him for.

A few minutes later a rotund goblin waddled out of one of the doors behind the counter before stopping in front of him, "I am Garnok, follow me."

The goblin then began waddling back toward the door he had come from. With a small nod toward the goblin who had helped them previously he and Gaara followed Garnok through the carved bronze doors. They found themselves in a long marble hallway dotted with silver doors which were just as intricately carved as the bronze door he had entered the lobby through had been. Some of the doors were inlaid with various coloured gemstones. They were led through one of the doors about halfway down the hallway into a richly decorated office. Garnok took a seat in a plush leather chair behind a large mahogany desk featuring a complex carving of knots. Sculptures, piles of gold and jewels, along with several tapestries littered the perimeter of the room. In front of the desk were four plain but sturdy wooden chairs.

"Sit down," Garnok told them.

He was beginning to realize that goblins were very blunt. He appreciated the bluntness only because he felt it was more honest than polite platitudes that meant nothing to the person using them. Gaara took the chair farthest from the door angling it so he could keep an eye on both the goblin and the door. He took the seat next to him leaving the two chairs nearest to the door empty.

"The letter advised you that there were certain conditions which needed to be met in order to receive access to your trust fund once you reached the age of eleven," the goblin paused for a response.

As there was no new information in the sentence he simply nodded indicating that the goblin could continue.

"The conditions laid out by your parents were simple. You must have magic, as I understand from your mother's will there was a chance you could have been a squib due to her family line being muggle. If you have magic the second condition was that you must attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to complete your magical education," Garnok advised.

He assumed the reason for the magical condition was due to the Uzumaki line usually having chakra instead. His mother was a talented shinobi who was a jinchūriki before him. He knew there was no need to worry though because he felt very connected to the golden power inside of him.

"First we will need to make sure you are a wizard and not a squib, I will also verify that you are Hadrian James Potter," the goblin said.

Garnok reached down to a cupboard under his desk pulling out a pair of knives and two small bowls. He placed those onto the top of the desk before pulling out a bottle with a black liquid that looked like ink inside it. The goblin set a bowl in front of both of them. He assumed the goblin was making an attempt at not ignoring his friend which he appreciated.

"Three drops of blood in the potion," the goblin said handing each of them one of the knives.

He saw Gaara take the knife but he didn't use it to cut himself right away.

"Aren't you curious what that stuff will do when we add our blood?" he asked Gaara coaxing him into testing the ink first.

Garnok had pulled out two long sheets of the thick paper he had seen the goblins at the counter using for their memos. Gaara looked at him searchingly before shrugging and cutting one of his fingers. It healed immediately before any blood could escape. He frowned at Gaara's finger wondering if it was because of their chakra. He tested it by trying to cut his own finger. He felt a brief sting but just like Gaara his chakra healed him instantly. He smiled knowing that as a shinobi instant healing was invaluable but now it brought up concern for how he was going to get three drops of blood in the ink/potion. He decided to cut himself again but this time he didn't remove the knife from the wound so it would hold the cut open long enough for it to bleed.

He let three drops fall into the bowl nearest to him noticing that Gaara was doing the same in the other bowl. Once the blood had fallen he removed the knife and the skin knit together instantly closing the wound. He looked at Garnok who was looking at them strangely but the goblin didn't ask so he felt no need to give up his life's history. He would do his best to keep what he realized was a pretty good advantage to himslef.

Garnok took Gaara's bowl first to show them what would happen. He swirled the ink around in the bowl until it turned silver. Garnok then poured it onto one of the papers he had placed on the desk. The potion moved on its own to spell G-A-A-R-A in the same strange writing as the letter that was sent to him.

"You have no last name," Garnok stated, "You need a last name to register."

"Register for what?" Gaara growled.

"Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Potter was registered by his parents before he was born. As you are from a continent with no Magical community you will not be registered at any school," it was the most they had heard Garnok speak, "For one galleon we will offer the service of registering on your behalf."

"Sabaku," Gaara said handing over one of the golden coins he had exchanged earlier.

The silver ink on the page flowed to create more of the strange letters, S-A-B-A-K-U. That meant the previous word was Gaara's name spelt in the writing of this place's people. That was interesting. He wondered how they would complete an education in this country if they couldn't read the writing or understand the language.

The goblin nodded before picking up his bowl, "Now, Mr. Potter."

Unlike Gaara's potion his ink turned a brilliant gold colour the same as his golden power, though he supposed he should call it magic now. Like he had with Gaara's the goblin poured the ink onto the page but unlike Gaara's his branched into a chart that vaguely resembled a tree. On one half the branches were filled with letters on the other there were names but there seemed to be generations missing in between. Directly above his name was the names of what he assumed were his parents, though he couldn't read the letters to know what their names were.

"We can't read what it says," he told Garnok.

With a sigh that seemed more annoyed than necessary, Garnok climbed down from his chair. He watched with confusion as the goblin waddled out of the office. He wasn't sure the goblin was very wise to leave them in a room with gold and jewels just laying around in piles. And yet every thought he had to just take some was quickly pushed away by a surge of magic. That meant he was correct about the words carved into the back of the door binding him in some way. His magic would not allow him to rob the bank. He wasn't surprised by that but what did surprise him was that Gaara also had magic.

"I wonder if your chakra was dormant in the womb because you had magic," he mused aloud.

Gaara glanced at him with wide eyes, "Maybe."

"Guess it doesn't really matter but I'm glad I didn't bring you here only to have to say goodbye because you couldn't stay," he smiled at Gaara whose lips twitched upward in what was his version of a smile back.

The door to the office opened again and Garnok waddled in with a pair of cloth bags. He climbed back onto his chair and pushed a bag toward each of them. He pulled out a thin silver chain with a clasp on one end and a large yellow stone on the other. Next to the stone was a small hoop for the clasp to attach.

"The bracelets are charmed to allow you to speak, understand, read, and write in English. The spell will fade as you learn the language on your own. Once you know the language the stone will turn white to indicate it can be removed," Garnok explained, "The cost for the charmed bracelets is five galleons each."

He smiled at the goblin, "That's fine, this is worth the expense."

He pulled out his frog wallet and passed over five galleons. Gaara did the same next to him. He watched the goblin smile as he greedily swept up the coins. Goblins seemed to adore money so it wasn't any wonder why they decided to run a bank.

Garnok nodded as he slipped the bracelet on. He felt his magic connect with the magic in the bracelet and was finally able to read the letters on the paper. The page was a family tree the chart following the path of his direct ancestors. His father's name was James Fleamont Potter and the names above him stretched back several generations until the page ran out of room after the name Ignotus Peverell. His mother's half of the tree was more sparse but the names were Uzumaki beginning not with Kushina as he had expected but with Lily Uzumaki/Evans née Potter which he knew for a fact was not the person who gave birth to him.

On his mother's side there were only … names above his mother's. Based on the size of the writing there were two generations between her and the last magical relative who was called Arian Uzumaki. Four generations before him was Lucan Uzumaki. Three generations above him was Raine Uzumaki née Stygian, and directly above her Selene Uzumaki née Slytherin. From the top of the tree he could see that two magical bloodlines married into the Uzumaki clan, Stygian and Slytherin.

Garnok carefully read over the bloodline chart, "This was not done for your mother as she was came to us as a muggle born with the last name Evans. Most pure bloods do not perform lineage tests as they have family trees in their homes which magically update with each birth and death. You have two titles you can claim that your parents did not claim for themselves as they were unaware of them."

"What do you mean by titles?" he asked curious.

"Potter is an ancient and respected house with old money but it is not noble. However, the houses of Peverell and Stygian are both ancient and noble. There have been no known living heirs to claim lordship of the houses in several centuries leaving the vaults to collect interest. Slytherin is a founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry but his descendants squandered his fortune away centuries ago and no longer have any vaults at Gringotts to claim," Garnok said irritated.

With a grumble Garnok once again climbed down from his chair and left the office. He exchanged glances with Gaara who looked pensive. He was unsure how the conditions for his trust fund along with his apparent titles would translate to him returning to the village. He was beginning to suspect the only way he would return to the Village Hidden by Leaves in one month was if magic somehow allowed for time travel which was ridiculous.

"I will not go back," Gaara informed him.

"Back to the Hidden Villages?" he clarified.

Gaara nodded, "The feeling here is more comfortable."

He wasn't entirely sure what Gaara meant but he could respect his decision to leave. When he was younger he had dreamt of finding a place like this. A place where no one knew about shinobi or what a jinchūriki was. Somewhere people wouldn't look at him with cold eyes always a moment away from violence and cruelty. He had not yet made up his mind but he did not want to abandon Gaara. He didn't want to abandon Sasuke either. He would wait to find out exactly how much he would be giving up before making any final decisions.

"I'm not sure what I will do," he confessed.

Gaara nodded in understanding but frowned in a way that made his heart hurt a little. They sat in silence waiting for Garnok to return. When he did he was followed by one of the goblins in a red and gold uniform. The goblin was pushing a bronze cart that had a large stack of documents. There were also several boxes on the cart that seemed like the ones he had seen in the window of a jewellery store once. Garnok eyed his chair dubiously as if wondering if the climb up would be worth it. He glanced at the other goblin before making his final decision and once again climbing onto the chair.

"This is Griphook," Garnok introduced the new goblin.

Griphook nodded his head in greeting before transferring the various stacks of thick paper from the cart onto the desk. The stacks were separated into groups held together by leather folders.

"We will start with the Keys and rings. The documents regarding the contents of your vaults and other holdings will wait until your guardian arrives," Garnok began.

"Sorry, but what do you mean guardian?" he had a bad feeling.

"Mr. Potter, you and Mr. Sabaku are underage. You will need a guardian while you are not at school due to your father being incapable of assuming responsibility for your care," Garnok said as though it was obvious.

In the hidden villages as soon as you were made a genin you were considered an adult in the eyes of the law regardless of your actual age. He had lived in his own apartment since he was five years old. Before that he was on his own at the orphanage as the caretakers in charge hated him for being a jinchūriki. He was not at all happy about the idea of having a guardian trying to put restrictions on his movements or behaviours.

After the initial indignation he realized something else that Garnok said was confusing him, "You're speaking like my father isn't dead."

"After your presumed death and the actual death of Lily Potter, James Potter attacked the man who had betrayed their location to He Who Must Not Be Named. In the process he killed Peter Pettigrew and thirteen muggle bystanders. He is currently in Azkaban Wizard Prison and will remain there for the rest of his life though the public sympathies mostly are in his favour," Garnok explained.

"Your Godfather Sirius Orion Black has been contacted regarding your guardianship as stated in Lily Potter's will," Griphook added.

"Great," he said very sarcastically so there would be no misunderstanding of exactly how not great he thought it was.

At least being imprisoned was something he would consider a valid excuse for not trying to find your only child if you were still alive. He wondered what this Sirius Black person would be like. He would know before he left the bank if he was willing to tolerate the man or not. Griphook carried over the first box along with a silver chain so thin it was difficult to see. First he was handed the chain.

"The chain is charmed to be unbreakable. So only you will be able to remove it. It can be worn on your neck, as a belt, wrapped into a bracelet, the choice of how you wear it is yours but always keep your vault keys on you. We do not issue new keys if you lose them," Garnok warned.

He took the chain carefully holding it in both hands. It was difficult to get past just how thin the chain was. If it wasn't catching on the light he wouldn't be able to see it at all. The small box that was in Griphook's other hand was passed to him next. Inside was a small golden key with the letter P built into the bow.

"The Potter Vault key, you will gain access to all of your vaults when you become a legal adult when you turn seventeen," Garnok advised.

There was a thin loop at the bow of the key so it could be strung onto the chain. He let the key slide to the middle of the chain wondering how many keys he would be getting. He would hate to jingle with each step and give away his location to everyone in earshot.

"Are the keys also charmed unbreakable?" he asked.

"Yes, and silenced," Garnok told him with a proud grin.

Griphook brought over two more boxes. Both held keys that were silver in colour. These keys were both bigger and more ornate with a coat of arms behind the letters on the bows. One showed another P while the second had an ornate S.

He looked at Garnok as he strung the new keys on the chain, "The Peverell and Stygian Vault keys I presume?"

Garnok nodded. The smallest key was given to him next. This one had HP built into the bow so he assumed it was for his vault.

"My trust vault key," he didn't pose it as a question as he was sure that was what it was.

He put the chain around his neck so that the dangling keys would be hidden inside his sweater. There were still three small boxes left on the cart. He assumed they were the rings that Garnok had mentioned earlier.

"Noble magical houses have heir rings that only accept an heir they deem worthy," Garnok advised, "When you come of age you will return the heir rings to Gringotts in exchange for the lordship rings."

Griphook brought over two of the three ring boxes. The first ring was silver with a deep blood red stone, inside the stone was the image of the Peverell coat of arms. He put the ring on the index finger of his right hand. He felt his magic connect with the magic in the ring which felt similar to his own but older. It glowed briefly before shrinking to fit his finger. The second ring had the Stygian coat of arms. It was silver with a deep grey stone that shifted in the light so it looked like it was made of shifting shadows. His magic repeated the process with the ring accepting his magic before it shrank to fit his right ring finger.

As only two of his houses were considered noble he wondered what was inside the third box. It looked like it was the right size for a third ring but to which house he had no idea. Before he could ask however, there was a knock on the door. With a nod from Garnok, Griphook opened the door where another goblin was standing before a tall human man. The man had wavy black hair to his shoulders and piercing silver eyes. He felt himself go tense at the arrival of the visitor wondering if this was the man who was to be his guardian and steal his independence. What if he tried to take him away from Gaara who had no one else in this country to rely on.

Gaara must have seen him tense because he felt his hand wrap around his and squeeze it. HE felt the knot of tension in his chest ease as he leaned back in his chair. He listened to the goblins converse in their own language for awhile before the man was allowed in. He saw the man glance at his and Gaara's joined hands before smiling slightly. He took the chair closest to the door allowing some distance to be maintained by the empty chair between them.

"Mr. Potter, this is Lord Sirius Black. He has agreed to be your guardian and has accepted the role for Mr. Sabaku as well," Garnok told him.

He felt immensely relieved that he wouldn't be left alone in a new place with this man. Not that he had any reason to distrust him apart from the general don't trust anyone until they earn it shinobi philosophy. The fact that he was willing to take in Gaara who he had no previous connection to was a huge point in his favour. Because of that he allowed himself to smile politely at Lord Black.

"Hadrian, you have no idea how happy I am to finally get to meet you," Lord Black said with a friendly open smile, "You look just like your mother but you have your father's hair."

Sirius leaned toward him, his body language open fully trusting him. He eyed the man critically. He was someone his mother had trusted to care of him in her will. That meant he had to be at least somewhat trustworthy. He wasn't sure how different the wizarding world was from the shinobi world but he couldn't get rid of all the lessons his home had taught him. One of which was that this man was foolish for underestimating him just because he was a child. He left himself open to an attack. With his training this man would be dead before he could blink. That was if he decided to attack him which he had no intention of doing.

"It is nice to meet you, Lord Black," he said formally but with a friendly smile.

"Sirius, please. Lord Black was my father," he said with a barking laugh.

Sirius was far too carefree for his liking. It didn't help that barking in any form reminded him of Kiba and Akamaru who got on his nerves. He felt his smile grow a little more strained. He just had to remember it wasn't Sirius's fault. Then again the carefree attitude was to his advantage if he manipulated the situation correctly.

"It is nice to meet you, Sirius," he corrected, "This is my friend Gaara Sabaku."

"Good to meet you Gaara," he said happily behaving informally with them already.

He shared a look with Gaara. He suddenly felt better about having a guardian. Sirius was trying so hard to impress him that he would likely keep all of the freedoms he is accustomed to having. He didn't dislike Sirius at all. In fact he felt a bit worried about him.

"You as well," Gaara replied.

He turned back to Garnok, "Was there anything else we needed to know?"

"One more thing you are on record as Lord Black's heir until he produces a male child of his own blood," Griphook brought him the last ring box.

He glanced at Sirius who nodded excitedly that he should put the ring on. He felt like three rings on one hand would look too gaudy so he put the ring on his left index finger. His magic met the magic of the ring. It had to spend a longer time, negotiating he thought, before the ring finally accepted him and shrank to fit his finger.

"Dorea Black married into the Potter line which means you have only a very slight claim to the Black lordship. Your claim is made stronger by magic accepting me as your Godfather before you were born," Sirius confided once the ring accepted him.

He smiled, "I see."

Griphook handed Sirius the folders that had been sitting on the desk, "The ledgers for Mr. Potter's accounts."

Sirius looked at the pile of folders in his arms with a mournful expression bordering on disgust before sighing. He pulled out a thin piece of wood and the documents shrunk down so he could put them in his pocket. He felt his eyes widen at how easily Sirius was able to use magic. He wanted to know what that stick was but felt reluctant to admit weakness until he knew he could fully trust Sirius.

"We'll go through those later," Sirius said with a wink at them not seeming to notice their shock.

"Follow me," Griphook said leading the way out of the office.

He nodded goodbye to Garnok who was pulling out other work to do. He got a small nod in return which he counted as a victory. He followed Sirius, with Gaara still holding onto him which he didn't mind, out of the Bank through a large set of double doors which he assumed was the main entrance. He was curious what Sirius had planned for them.


	2. Chapter 2

They exited the bank into a spacious alley filled with shops of all kinds. Glancing behind him he saw that the bank building was actually much taller than he had thought. It was made of white marble with no windows on the sides of the building. The alley was filled with shops some of which, he saw, clearly sold the flowing clothes like what Sirius was wearing. One sign that caught his attention was Ollivanders wand shop which had a stick like Sirius had used on display. Or rather a wand on display. A short way from where they were standing on the bank's steps was a darker alley. The entire thing seemed to be hidden in shadows. He felt his curiosity peak but decided it was something to explore another day.

He didn't get access to his trust fund for another two weeks but he wondered how far the galleons he did have would stretch. He really would love to buy clothes that were not orange for once in his life.

"Sirius, can we look around the shops a bit?" he asked.

"Of course," Sirius agreed, "You'll get to see most of the shops when we do your school shopping. Did you have a shop in mind for today?"

"I would like to get some clothes that would fit in with the magical community better," he told his new guardian gesturing to his casual track suit which did not fit in.

He found the idea of the robes appealing because they were so different from the fitted clothing most shinobi wore and nothing at all like his orange outfit. He had left the Hidden Leaf to gain some distance and perspective. He felt a wardrobe change would help to increase that distance. Sirius seemed to register what they were wearing for the first time which again made him question just how good of a guardian Sirius would be not that he would mind remaining as independent as possible. He eyed his orange jumpsuit with distaste and Gaara's gourd with a mild curiosity.

"Is orange your favourite colour?" Sirius asked him.

"No," he replied flatly.

"We can go see about some casual robes," Sirus said with a furrowed brow before his face brightened up, "I'm your guardian. As your guardian I will provide all of your basic needs including food, shelter, clothing, and school supplies. Your trust fund is just spending money for fun things, like pranks."

Even though he had been assigned a guardian by the council before he was a genin, they had been a virtual non-entity in his life. The only contact he could remember having with his official guardian was an envelope with his allowance being shoved under the door once a month when he wasn't home. He had tried setting a trap once but had been called into the Hokage office shortly after where he was advised not to attempt to attempt a trap again. The or else was implied and he had a feeling he would not have liked it so he still had no idea who his supposed guardian had been. He decided that a new place required embracing new experiences. Unlike the guardian he was assigned in the Hidden Leaf, Sirius knew his parents. He also seemed pretty determined to get them to like him. He also had the added benefit of not knowing about the tailed beasts or what a jinchūriki was.

"Your father loved playing pranks when we were at school. We called ourselves the marauders. I was Padfoot, James was Prongs, Remus, who you'll meet soon, was Moony, and the rat who we will not speak of was Wormtail. You'll need to make sure you live up to the Marauder's name while you're at school. I'll show you a neat spell that will turn parchment into a self updating map before you go to help you with the pranking I know you will do," Sirius sounded very passionate about his pranking which seemed a little childish to him.

He frowned as he slowed his pace. He wasn't really interested in resuming the prankster persona he had adopted during the years he spent at the Academy. However, he supposed, provided no one knew it was him pulling the pranks, he could oblige Sirius's whim just this once. It was a connection to his father that he hadn't had before.

"About my father," he began.

"Anything you've heard is a vicious lie. James has never killed anyone. That was all Peter," Sirius interrupted, then decided to change topics, "We'll get your robes at Madam Malkin's she has the best robe shop in Diagon Alley."

"Thank you," Gaara said politely.

He glanced at Gaara but didn't know him well enough to guess what he was feeling. He smiled brightly at Sirius who led the way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions with a bounce in his step. Madam Malkin's was a cozy looking shop in the centre of the alley. In the window display were a few manikins wearing various styles of robes from plain to embroidered to ones with moving designs. As they entered, a bell attached to the door echoed into the shop which was much larger inside than it had looked from the street.

"Lord Black," a squat, smiling witch greeted Sirius with familiarity, "What can I get for you today?"

He assumed Sirius was probably a regular client of the store. He had said that Madam Malkin's was the best robe shop in Diagon Alley. The brown haired witch bustled toward the front of the shop genuinely happy to see him. When her eyes found him and Gaara beside Sirius she slowed down with a confused frown replacing her smile.

"Madam, allow me to introduce my Godson Hadrian Potter and my ward Gaara Sabaku," Sirius cheerfully answered her unasked question first with a flourish, "They have recently returned to England from abroad and are in need of a new wardrobe. I think five sets of casual robes each should be enough for the rest of the summer. They are growing boys after all."

Once Sirius had finished speaking Madam Malkin turned her attention toward the two of them. Her eyes immediately went to their hands stopping on the heir rings he was wearing. Her smile grew even brighter than it had been before.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both, right this way dears," the witch said but her eyes only glanced at Gaara briefly.

She led them further into the store. The woman clearly had an eye for business as aside from a brief look at Gaara she focused most of her attention on him once she noticed his heir rings. It was unfortunate for her that Gaara was one of two friends he had ever managed to make, he did not take slights against his friends well. If she was hoping to make him a regular client she would need to redeem herself in his eyes.

Sirius followed them into the back of the store oblivious to the subtle slight the witch had made to Gaara. He took a seat against the wall. There were two footstools in front of a wall of mirrors. She directed them to remove the top layer of their clothes so the new robes could be fitted correctly. He placed his pack on the chair next to Sirius as Gaara also placed his gourd on the floor in front of the chair blocking his pack from view. Madam Malkin then had them stand on the stools while she flicked her wand. He could faintly hear a small jingle from deeper inside the store. Another witch who was likely her assistant came out from a different room in the shop. The second witch went over to Gaara to help him with his new robes. Madam Malkin stayed with him because in her eyes he was the more important client.

"Do you like orange?" she asked looking over at a rack of unfitted orange robes.

He really hoped once he was done shopping he would never need to wear anything orange again, ever. He was sure had he not been forced to wear only that colour his entire childhood he might have not minded the colour in a less vibrant shade, but the village had made him wear orange and now he detested the colour.

"I hate orange," he told her, then to soften the harshness of the tone he had used, "Please put me in colours that will compliment me."

"You have extraordinary green eyes. I think we should put you in some darker purples, burgundy and wine red would look nice, and of course a few rich greens would really help to make your eyes stand out even more," Madam Malkin suggested as she made her way through the colourful racks of robes.

Madam Malkin's wand was a lighter shade of brown that the wand Sirius had used. He wanted to ask about wands. What they were made of, what their purpose was. He knew they channelled magic so it could be controlled easier, but was that all that they did? It felt like it should be common knowledge so it would be far too embarrassing to admit just how ignorant of the world he really was. He resolved to find a library as soon as possible so he could take advantage of his bracelet to read all about this new world before he entered the school. It wouldn't feel right to have to rely on others for his information. They could lie to him then he would look like a fool when he went to use the false information. He would not allow himself to have such an easily exploited weakness.

She flicked her wand at the racks and the robes she had gestured to began floating through the air to land on a smaller rack next to his stool. There were a lot more than five robes on the rack. He looked at the rack next to Gaara to compare. He also had a variety of robes but his were all in different shades of red with a few dark blue robes mixed in. The witch seemed to be purposely avoiding black, probably because it didn't fit in with the aesthetics of most of the magical population he had seen so far which all seemed to prefer to wear colours. Even Sirius was wearing robes that were red edged in gold.

Madam Malkin flicked her wand and the robes floated around his eyes for a few minutes until there were only five left. She pulled a set of plum robes that were too large over his head before she began pinning the robes to fit him.

"Just try the blue, it will look much better with your hair and eyes than red. Red clashes with your hair," the assistant witch burst out exasperated.

"I prefer black but you said no. I want red," Gaara told her.

He sounded kind of petulant especially given that he had folded his arms across his chest while he glared at her. He smiled but had to keep from laughing or he knew that Gaara's glare would turn on him next. Madam Malkin removed the purple robes and pulled on a set of wine red robes to repeat the process.

"What about a really dark blue that is almost black with a black trim, that would look nice," he said to Gaara catching his eyes in the mirror.

The assistant sighed, "I'll accept that, I just wouldn't feel right selling you robes that would clash with your hair."

"Fine," Gaara agreed after a short pause, it was clear he was reluctant.

The assistant flicked her wand, which seemed to be made of a reddish wood, as all of the red robes flew back to the rack leaving only the variety of blue robes she had already had on the rack. There also seemed to be a couple of rich browns and at least one blue that was almost green.

Over the next twenty minutes Madam Malkin repeated the fitting process with a set of forest green robes, dark purple robes, and last a set of emerald green robes. The trims on his robes were either black or a darker shade of the same colour. With the last robe finished being pinned to fit she pulled it off standing up with a groan of relief.

"You can put your clothes back on then come to the front of the store," she told him kindly.

With a flick of her wand she sent the rack of pinned robes floating into another room of the store separated by a decoratively carved archway. He quickly pulled on his track suit before making his way to the front of the store seeing as Gaara was having his last robe fitted and shouldn't be too far behind him.

Sirius was stamping his lordship ring on a small blob of wax that was stuck to a strip of parchment that had the information about their purchase written on it. He assumed that the paper was a way to get around having to carry around hundreds of heavy gold coins. It was unfortunate that she removed the receipt before he could see the cost of the robes that Sirius had bought him. He wanted to know how grateful he should be. Gaara came up behind him and handed him his pack. He felt his cheeks redden as he realized he had almost forgotten it. He was already letting his guard down which was not good.

"Thank you, Lord Black, for your business. I'll owl the robes to your home as soon as they are ready," Madam Malkin said cheerfully.

"It was a pleasure as always. Your shop is truly the best," Sirius complimented Madam Malkin who giggled in response.

She turned heading back into her shop to get started on finishing their robes.

Sirius turned toward him and Gaara, "Ready to go home?"

He felt a strange tightness in his chest at the word home. He managed a small smile at Sirius.

"Yes," he answered even though he couldn't really breath properly.

Home was apparently a modest manor house somewhere in the countryside if the acres of meadows and forests were any indication. He wasn't able to fully appreciate the view as his stomach was currently attempting to climb out of his mouth. Sirius had transported them using a method that he called side along apparation. It had felt like he was being squeezed through a small tube without any air in it. He leaned over with his hands on his knees hoping he would be able to keep himself from getting sick.

"Was that your first time apparating?" Sirius asked them with a twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius knew it was their first time apparating. He knew they were from abroad. He was just showing his true colours as a cruel, wicked man.

He glared at Sirius in a way he felt fully conveyed his current discomfort. He was too worried he would be sick if he were to express his rage vocally. Gaara glared just as hard, as a thin line of sand began to rise from his gourd. He caught Gaara's eye and tried to convey how bad an idea it was to let Sirius know about their chakra even if he fully agreed that Sirius ought to be crushed. Reluctantly, Gaara let the sand reform into a cork to plug his gourd. Fortunately for them both the sand had been hidden behind Gaara's head so Sirius hadn't seen it.

"Most people vomit the first time," Sirius said sounding a little disappointed before perking back up and clapping his hands together, "How about a tour?"

With his stomach back under control he was able to answer, "That sounds great."

Sirius led the way up the gravel path to the front door, "I'll introduce you to the house elves once we get inside."

He wasn't sure what house elves were. Given that the goblins were a non-human intelligent race he assumed house elves would also be a non-human intelligent race. He was curious about what they would look like but had no basis from which he could guess their appearances. He would just have to resign himself to being surprised but not letting it show on his face like any well trained shinobi. He fixed his neutral mask in place as he followed Sirius up the gravel path that led to the front door.

House elves turned out to be small creatures with giant floppy ears. Their eyes were all very large taking up half of their heads which seemed to be a little too big for their small bodies. They were all thin and frail looking as if a small gust of wind would be enough to blow them over. Sirius introduced them as Tilly, Milly, and Loppy. Tilly and Milly both seemed to be female elves who were wearing clean pillow cases with what he assumed was the black family crest, whereas Loppy appeared male and only wore a loincloth. It left a little too much skin on display for his tastes so he decided to only call on Loppy in an emergency. He discovered that house elves loved working and being busy. They were happily bound to wizards to act as unpaid servants. Because they were Sirius's wards they could call on any of the house elves if they needed anything. He was grateful because despite living on his own for several years he was not very competent in household chores and all he knew how to cook were instant noodle cups.

They were then given a tour of the manor. The basement of the manor held a potions lab with an set of stairs leading to a door to the back garden for fresh ingredients. There was also a duelling chamber which Sirius used to keep in shape for his job as an Auror which he discovered was like a more friendly less talented version of the ANBU in the Hidden Leaf. It also had the house elf living spaces but those could only be accessed by the elves themselves as there was no door.

The first floor had a ballroom, several sitting rooms, the formal dining room, the kitchen with a small casual dining nook attached, a sun room, three bathrooms, and a large library complete with comfy couches they could curl up on while reading.

Outside was a large garden maintained by the elves along with three greenhouses for when the weather got cold. Being from the Hidden Leaf which stayed mostly warm all year he was a little worried about the fact it got cold enough in that the plants couldn't grow outside. It would be even worse for Gaara who grew up in a desert. Further away from the manor there was a walled area that he could see six large hoops rising from with three on each side of the enclosure. Sirius called it a Quidditch Pitch where wizards and witches could play a game on flying brooms. Though he found the idea of using cleaning supplies to fly odd. Sirius seemed very proud of the fact that he had one on his property which was completely surrounded by forests, so the 'muggles' couldn't see. He had heard the term while they were in Diagon alley but he wasn't fully aware of the meaning. The trees unfortunately were much smaller than the trees in the elemental nations so he would have to travel through the trees on the ground instead of leaping through the branches like he was used to.

The second floor contained the family suites and offices as well as the more basic guest bedrooms. Sirius showed them the door to the master suite which was his and the door to his office which was further down the hall. The office door had a small sign on the outside that could be set by Sirius to say: come in to show that there was nothing pressing being worked on, emergency only, and do not disturb. If the sign was blank it simply meant that Sirius was not inside his office. Near the Master suite was the heir's suite which he was given and across the hall was another suite of rooms that Gaara was given. Once they were shown their rooms Sirius said he would leave them to settle in and left.

With a wave to Gaara he decided to look at his new set of rooms. He opened the door into what had to be the gaudiest sitting room he had ever seen.

"Tilly," he yelled his voice a little more high pitched than usual.

"Master Hadrian called for Tilly?" Tilly arrived clearly confused.

"What is this?" he asked gesturing at the red and gold nightmare of a room.

It was so loud he was sure he would never be able to relax in it. He had nothing against red as a colour, in fact it was one of his favourite colours. He did have a problem with using such a bright shade of red as the main colour when decorating what should be a comfortable room.

Tilly looked at the room in confusion, "It is being Master Hadrian's sitting room."

"I meant why does it look like a strawberry threw up in it," he clarified.

Most of the house he had seen was tastefully decorated in dark neutral colours making it feel refined in a way that quietly gave an impression of old money that wasn't insulting to someone who maybe didn't have it. It was somewhat cozy as opposed to bright and gaudy like the room in front of him. He didn't even want to step further into the room with the way it looked. He really dreaded how the other rooms would look if this was just the sitting room. The elf's face lit up in understanding.

"Yous be wanting to change the colours," she said with her ears flapping.

"Yes," he confirmed with a sigh of relief that the elf had understood.

They were like children in the simple way they viewed the world. Much like children he assumed the way to win them over was to be as friendly as possible. He intended to maintain good relations with the elves so they might be willing to help him maintain more freedom than he otherwise could while Sirius was at work.

"Tilly be doing that right away for Master," then Tilly snapped her fingers.

The room became a collection of soft browns and beiges with only small hints of gold only where metal should be like on the lights and door handles.

"Would you mind making sure the other rooms look more like this?" he asked her politely.

The little elf popped away for a few seconds, "It is being done, Master Hadrian."

"Thank you," Tilly's ears flapped again and she bowed so low her nose touched the floor before popping away again.

Now that he could look at the room without going blind he could see that it actually was a comfortable looking space. Empty bookshelves lined the walls. In the centre of the room was a trio of plush sofas facing a large cozy looking stone fireplace. A beautifully carved desk was behind one of the couches facing the fire with a plush cushioned chair. A door on his left revealed a small two piece bathroom presumably for guests, if he ever had any. Then on his right furthest from the main door was a second door that led into the bedroom. Most of the room was taken by the bed which was large enough for four of him to lay in comfortably, he knew because he tested it with his clones. The rest of the space was taken up by a display shelf and a dresser. A small archway to his right led into a wardrobe where his robes would hang up once he received them. And another door next to the archway led into a marble bathroom with both a shower stall and a large tub that he thought he could probably swim in if he filled it up all the way.

He returned to the hallway once he put his pack down on the bed. He was surprised by the sight of Gaara having a staring contest with a giant black dog. He assumed the only reason a dog had to be in the house was that it was Sirius's pet. He reached out cautiously so the dog could sniff his hand before petting it on the shoulders. He had spent enough time skipping classes with Kiba and Akamaru that he was comfortable enough around dogs even if he didn't really like them that much. He felt he was more of a cat person if he had to have an animal around at all.

He turned to Gaara, "Do you want to eat first or go to the Library?"

"Library," Gaara said after a moment of thought.

He patted the dog on the back lightly before starting toward the stairs. The dog followed them to the Library where it casually shifted into Sirius. He was ashamed that his mask slipped enough to show his shock when his heart made a mad dash trying to run out of his chest.

Sirius just sat on the floor laughing, "You should see your faces."

He felt annoyed but also a little better about his new guardian. He had been told in no uncertain terms that Sirius was a born prankster so it was nothing he should really be surprised about. Once he was able to collect himself again he felt curiosity stirring to life inside him. It had occurred to him that people did not often transform into animals. Theoretically the transformation jutsu could disguise a person as an animal but he hadn't heard of anyone using it that way before. He could however see how it could come in handy for spying if the person you were spying on had pets or if they were in a forest.

"How did you do that?" he asked smiling to show he wasn't upset, anymore.

"I'm an animagus, your father could turn into a stag, I'll teach you when you're older," Sirius said, "What did you think of your rooms?"

"Fine," Gaara said.

"Gaudy but Tilly fixed it," he told the man.

"Hey, those were Gryffindor colours," Sirius said pretending to be insulted.

"Yes, well they made my poor eyes bleed," he said unrepentant.

"Alright," Sirius chuckled ruffling his hair.

He felt himself tense at the unexpected contact. Most people didn't touch him if they could avoid it. The exceptions being Gaara and Sasuke who were his friends, even then it was rare. He would probably need to get used to Sirius touching him though because he seemed like the type. Sirius had also transferred his close relationship with his parents into an automatic affection for him that he hadn't actually earned yet. It explained why he was so willing to touch him but not Gaara who he would need to get to know better. He would need to warn Gaara so he wouldn't accidentally attack Sirius once he decided they were close.

"As a responsible adult I need to let you know that you can read anything in the open part of the library. There is a red line on the floor warding the back section of the library where the dark arts books are. Those books should not be read until you are at least seventeen when you'll be considered adults so I can't stop you, understand?"

"Yes, I think the information we're looking for is in the front anyway," he said, "Are there any books about Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts: A History," Sirius informed him then seemed to get another thought, "If you know what your looking for just write it in the index here and the library will pull the books for you and put them here."

Sirius first gestured to a blank book on a stand with a feather sitting in an ink pot and then to a small wooden table that was next to it. He walked over to the book and pulled out the feather. He let the excess ink drip back into the pot before he wrote, in English thanks to his bracelet, Hogwarts: A History. A book removed itself from one of the shelves and levitated to the table next to the stand. He picked up the book and skimmed the table of contents with a smile. The book was just what he needed.

"Great," he said knowing his search would be much easier.

He intended to read about the school first. But he felt he could probably use his clones to help him read about the government as well, followed by laws, and then magical culture so he would be prepared for when he went to the school. He knew he would need to interact with his fellow students and intended to make the best impression possible. He would treat it like an infiltration mission so in order to be successful he would need to know as much as he could learn from books to give him a foundation from which to start. The rest he would need to pick up from his interactions with the other students. He would just need to make sure that he spoke to a variety of students so his impressions would be unbiased.

"Dinner is at 4pm, I took the week off so we'll be able to go over your Gringotts ledgers tomorrow morning and then I'll show you both how to fly in the afternoon," Sirius said the last with excitement.

"Sounds great," he said returning the smile.

He wrote the other three subjects in the library index and watched more books soar off the shelves. He handed a random book to Gaara as they made their way to one of the reading nooks.

Sirius pouted at them from the doorway, "I'll leave you to be boring, then."

Once he was sure Sirius was gone he set a clone to guard the door. He made enough clones that he could begin reading three of the other books on the table right away. He didn't want to read them all at once because it would be too difficult to assimilate that much information at once after the clones were released. He settled down on the couch next to Gaara who was already reading. He opened the book he was still holding and began to read Hogwarts: A History.


	3. Chapter 3

The Hogwarts letters had arrived at Black manor four days after they had come to live with Sirius. He had tried to convince Sirius to go to Diagon Alley right away so they could avoid the annoying crowds that were sure to crop up later in the summer, but Sirius was adamant that they would go on his birthday so he and Gaara could get him a birthday present while they were there. He wasn't happy that he needed to wait to start studying his school books so he could make a good impression on the teachers and his fellow students. He would also be spending his birthday shopping for school supplies. He huffed out a disgruntled sigh as he sat in the dining nook nursing his morning tea while he waited for the others to wake up.

Sirius had been very enthusiastic about having him around. The problem he had found was that Sirius seemed to expect him to behave in a certain way. It was like Sirius had decided before they ever met that he would be the exact opposite of himself. Sirius was trying very hard to see him as a young James Potter in order to reclaim his wrongfully convicted best friend. As a result he had felt the need to once again don the mask he had abandoned since the academy in order to keep Sirius happy, at least for the rest of the summer. It had been hard to keep up the act because he despised that mask completely for what it represented about the village and his childhood. But he felt that it was worth it to make his life easier for the time being.

Sirius had spent most of his week off trying to start a prank war while teaching them all about flying and the flying game Quidditch. He would gladly admit that he did love the freedom of flying. The feel of the wind rushing past him as he soared without any obstacles blocking his path. He even liked the idea of quidditch. It spoke to his competitive nature but he wasn't sure how much fun it would be competing without Sasuke there to be his rival. It felt weird to even consider that there might be someone to take Sasuke's place as his rival.

He had spent the last two weeks leaving his clones to try to read through all the books on magical culture, law, and government the Black Library possessed. He felt that he had managed to gather enough knowledge of the magical world to not seem ignorant when he went to Hogwarts. He knew the majority of the other students would be children who had spent their entire lives in the magical world. He was hoping to find an opportunity to test his ability to blend in while they were shopping. Once Sirius and Gaara were awake they would travel to Diagon Alley to get their school books and any other books he might find interesting. He fully intended to read ahead. It was important that he knew the theory ahead of time so he could focus on the practical aspects of magic more fully once at school. He also wanted to have time to gather information from the other students which could only be made easier by him being a helpful resource to struggling students who needed help.

He smiled to himself as the smell his breakfast cooking filled the kitchen. The elves were making all of his favourites for his Birthday. There would even be his first birthday cake for dessert which gave him a fluttery feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about it.

Gaara had taken advantage of their free time to become almost as lazy as Shikamaru. Now that he actually could sleep he was making up for lost time. On a normal day he would be lucky to see Gaara before the elves woke him for lunch. However, today was his birthday so he knew that Gaara had asked Loppy to wake him up for breakfast before he had gone to sleep the previous night. Sirius was also sleeping in because the weekends were the only days he didn't need to be up early for work. In contrast he had been up since midnight and would not be going to sleep until midnight that night. It was a lonely tradition he had made for himself years ago, because no one else would celebrate his birthday with him, he would celebrate every moment of it by staying awake for the full 24 hours.

He heard the sound of shuffling feet coming toward the kitchen. He glanced up to see a dishevelled Sirius wandering into the room with his hair tangled and unshaven face. Sirius threw himself into a chair as Tilly ran over with a cup of strong black coffee. He wrinkled his nose at the strong scent the coffee was giving off. It was ruining the smell of his delicious breakfast.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully sitting back up in his chair.

"It's too early to look so happy," Sirius grumped as he drank his coffee.

He rolled his eyes while the mug he was drinking his tea from blocked Sirius' view, "I'll be as happy as I want on my birthday."

Sirius snorted and reached over to ruffle his hair, "Happy Birthday, Prongslet."

He smiled outwardly at the nickname Sirius had decided on. Internally he was cringing at the nickname. It was just another way for Sirius to pretend he had his friend back. He wasn't sure that was consciously what Sirius intended but it didn't matter because that was what he was doing. They sat in silence while they sipped on their drinks content to be quiet in the morning.

A few minutes later Gaara came into the kitchen too just as plates of eggs, bacon, ham, toast, potatoes, and bowls of fruit were being placed on the table. His eye bags were completely gone but he still wore kohl around his eyes having grown up in a desert it was habit. Garra sat next to him attempting a smile. His smile still needed work but it was honestly the thought that counted. He hoped that being around the other students at Hogwarts would help his friend to become more comfortable around people. They both had an opportunity to live outside of the stigma associated with being jinchūrik it was only right that they take advantage of the situation as much as they could.

"Happy Birthday, Hadrian," Gaara told him, his voice was gravelly from disuse.

"Thank you," he genuinely meant it because these were the first two people to ever wish him a happy birthday.

This would be his first birthday surrounded by people who didn't curse his name or celebrate Kurama's defeat. In the Hidden Leaf this was the day he had to be most weary of attacks by the villagers. This time he would go out in public and be ignored while he got to open his trust vault for the first time since he had learnt of its existence. He honestly couldn't wait to buy things he wanted with his own money without the worry of bills he would need to pay.

He filled his plate with as much of his favourite breakfast foods as he could eat. Happy with the start of his first acknowledged birthday.

Two hours later they were all standing outside the gate to Black Manor preparing to apparate to Diagon Alley. He would be lying if he said his stomach hadn't already begun to rebel from the memory of the last time Sirius had apparated him and Gaara. It was unfortunate that they weren't able to just ride their brooms to the Alley. Regrettably, flying over populated muggle areas was against the law meaning appartation was the only option, as far as he knew, unpleasant as it was.

"Grab hold of my arms," Sirius told them with a mischievous smile.

Sirius was fully aware of how unhappy he was to be apparating again. He was taking enjoyment from his dread. Sometimes he wondered about Sirius's sense of humour. Usually it was all in good fun but other times he seemed to edge just a little bit into the realm of cruelty. He grabbed onto Sirius reluctantly trying his best to make his displeasure known. Once again he felt Sirius twist away followed by the sensation of being squeezed down a small airless black tube.

When the squeezing stopped he still felt nauseous but was surprised that it was a little better than last time. He had wondered how the magical population could stand apparating. How Sirius appeared fine afterwards while he had to fight with his stomach to keep everything inside. It would seem it was simply something he needed to adapt to. Like practising taijutsu until he had a muscle memory of the forms he was learning. If you had to think about each move during the fight you would be too slow and lose, with muscle memory you could move mostly by instinct while using you mind to strategize a way to exploit your opponents weakness which increased the chance for you to win by a large margin.

They had apparated to a special reserved area of Diagon Alley. The area was designated as an apparation point to avoid wizards and witches apparating on top of or into some innocent bystander doing their shopping. He hurriedly walked out of the zone with Sirius and Gaara. They stopped off to the side so Sirius could reach into a pocket of his robes and pull out their letters with a dramatic flourish. Sirius had taken the letters from the owl when they had been delivered. He had then promptly hidden them away so they would be able to have the 'proper' Diagon Alley experience as Sirius called it. Sirius handed each of them their letters bouncing in place as he watched them.

He took the parchment envelope from Sirius. It was addressed to him as:

Mr. H. Potter

Heir Suite

Black Manor

Location Unknown

"Why is the location unknown?" Gaara asked before he had the chance, he was also curious about the answer.

"The Manor is unplottable, so it is impossible for the self addressing quill to know its location," Sirius advised them, "The owls are still able to deliver the letters because they deliver to the person not the address. Most Witches and Wizards prefer their homes to be unplottable so only the people they want to visit can find their homes. It also helps to keep the muggles away from their land because they do not know it is there. Of course it is the muggle repelling wards that keep muggles from accidentally stumbling upon the homes of wizards."

He nodded to show he understood. It made sense if your home was in the wilderness somewhere like Black Manor was. It wouldn't have worked as well with his apartment in the Hidden Leaf because it was surrounded on all sides by other buildings and there were many other families living in the building. Someone would definitely have noticed if they couldn't add an apartment building on the map of the Hidden Leaf.

Next to him Sirius was growing impatient, "Open it up, Prongslet."

With a slight scowl he broke the wax seal on the letter and pulled out the first piece of parchment. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

The first letter didn't mean much to him because Sirius had already sent in their acceptance with the owl that delivered the letters. He unfolded the second piece of parchment as he pulled it from the envelope. As expected it was the list of school supplies they would need for the coming year. Sirius had already told them it would be the longest letter due to it being their first year. They would need equipment and textbooks while in future years they would likely just need textbooks. He read it over curious about what equipment a witch or wizard would need while in school.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

1\. The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

2\. A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

3\. Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

4\. A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

5\. One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

6\. Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

7\. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

8\. The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials

1 telescope set

1 brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

He was most excited about getting his wand. He had tried a few spells he had found in the books he had been reading but without a wand most of them only worked one time out of five attempts. That was either due to his lack of training or the difficulty of the spells he wasn't sure which. He was looking forward to practising the spells they would be learning during the year. He also wanted to supplement his textbooks with more supporting material to give him an edge over the other students. He especially wanted to be prepared for potions as he felt he could use potions the same way shinobi used soldier pills. Magical spells might stand out a bit too much to use on missions but potions would barely stand out at all. He had also learnt from Sirius that his childhood rival/prank victim would be the teacher which he could admit worried him slightly.

He smiled at Gaara who had already finished reading his letter. Gaara hadn't spent as much time studying as he had, mostly because he slept so late, but he had recommended the books that were most informative and knew Gaara had read them all. In fact Gaara was working harder than he was despite his sleeping in just so he could keep up.

"We'll go to Gingotts first so Harry can visit his trust vault and I can get you both an allowance for spending at Hogwarts," Sirius said leading them toward the tall white building at the end of Diagon Alley.

As they neared the bank his view was blocked by the largest man he had ever seen. The man was several heads taller than any of the other shoppers around him. Next to him, Sirius seemed to perk up even more at the sight of the giant man. He looked at the man with curiosity wondering what his connection to Sirius could be.

"Hagrid," Sirius called waving his arm over his head to draw attention.

He took a few steps away with Gaara to attempt to limit his connection to Sirius while he made a scene. Hagrid stopped and looked around confused for a moment before his eyes found Sirius. A wide smile spread across Hagrid's face as soon as he saw Sirius. He began moving back toward them through the sea of people who were more than happy to get out of his way or risk being crushed under the giant man's boots.

"Sirius, good ter see yeh," Hagrid boomed joyfully as he took them all in, "And who's this?"

Hagrid turned his friendly smile on him and Gaara. He frowned making a note to step further away next time Sirius made a scene because clearly they were still obviously together despite the space. He would need to see if there were any charms to escape notice once he had his textbooks.

"Gaara Sabaku," Gaara introduced himself neutrally.

"Hadrian Uzu-ah-Potter," he was still getting used to his new last name.

Surprisingly, Hagrid sniffled a little after he heard his name, "Yer mum was a great witch, brightest of her age. It was terrible what happened ter Lily."

So far the only person he had met that knew his parents was Sirius. Quite frankly, the only one Sirius ever really talked about was James. The few mentions he had made of Lily were all in relations to her being the woman James loved or was trying to impress, or was stalking, etc.

"Did you know my parents well?" he asked curious.

"O'course I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts," Hagrid said standing a little straighter.

"You'll be seeing him around while your at Hogwarts. He lives in a hut on the grounds," Siruis explained before turning back to Hagrid, "make sure you look after my wards. Though I warn you they are a couple of Ravenclaws."

Hagrid chuckled at that. He honestly had no idea what house he would be in. One thing he had managed to pick up on over the last two weeks was that Magical Britain seemed to take their Hogwarts houses and the house traits they represented very seriously. He had spent some time speculating about what house would suite him best but ultimately decided to leave it up to whatever the schools method of sorting was, something Hogwarts: A History purposely left out. His biggest worry was the obvious hatred Sirius had for Slytherin. It was so bad he winced every time Harry wore one of his green robes despite the fact that he knew the reason he wore them was because they brought out his eyes. His only hope was that Gaara would end up in the same house as him. Gaara was still too socially inept to be fully on his own.

"O'course I'll look out for them, are yeh here ter get yer school things?" Hagrid considerately leaned down so he was nearer to their level.

"We were just on our way to Gringotts," Sirius proclaimed proudly.

He shared a glance with Gaara while the two men caught up. He thought Hagrid was nice which was good because he didn't want to imagine what a man that size would be like if he were evil. As the men talked he and Gaara were pretty much forgotten. They observed the other shoppers quietly as they waited to be remembered again.

In the end it was decided that they would go to gringotts with Hagrid who had also been on his way to the bank. Sirius and Hagrid were having a wonderful time reminiscing about Sirius' time at Hogwarts. He kept half an ear on the conversation while he trailed behind them with Gaara. He had already known Sirius was a prankster who was borderline cruel. The stories he was telling only made that more obvious and he had a sinking feeling that Snivellus was the potions teacher he had been warned about. The more stories he heard the less hope he had that he could win the man over or at least get the man to treat him fairly.

When they entered the bank he was once again impressed with the obvious flaunting of wealth that was present wherever he looked. There seemed to be even more piles of gold and jewels lying around then there had been on his last visit. There were also a lot more goblins on duty. They made their way up to a free goblin with Hagrid who was going to stay with them while they went to the vaults.

"Morning," Hagrid nodded to the goblin behind the counter.

Sirius took over, "We've come to take some money from the black vault as well as the potter trust vault.

"You have your keys?" the goblin asked

Sirius pulled the black vault key from his pocket which seemed like an unsafe place to keep something so important. The silver key was placed on the counter in front of the goblin who picked it up to examine it. The goblin handed the key back once he was sure it was real. Harry also pulled the chain he had been given from Garnok out from beneath his robes. He slid his vault key free from the chain. His key was also examined by the goblin before being returned to him. He placed it back on the chain before clasping it closed.

"That seems to be in order," the goblin advised them before turning its attention to Hagrid who had yet to state his business.

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, puffing up proudly, "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully. He felt his curiosity peaking as he watched the goblins face scrunch in disapproval of the letter's contents. Whatever the letter said it was insulting to either the goblins or the bank. Given Hagrid was planning to withdraw something it likely questioned the banks ability to guard against thieves which he knew from their previous encounter was very insulting to the goblins.

"Very well," the goblin said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to the vaults. Griphook!"

Griphook was the uniformed goblin who had assisted them while they were meeting with Garnok. He smiled to the goblin and inclined his head in greeting. Griphook seemed slightly surprised at being remembered and inclined his head as well. Griphook had a goblin smile on his face, which was really more of a sneer, as they followed him toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" he asked Hagrid as innocently as he could.

"Can't tell yeh that," Hagrid told him mysteriously, "Very secret, Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me more'n my job's worth ter tell yeh the truth."

Griphook held the door open for them to pass into the area of the bank where the vaults were kept. He wasn't sure what he was expecting as they left the marble hall but it wouldn't have been the narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches that he now found himself in. The walls were rough as though not a lot of care was taken as they were carved from the rock. The floor sloped down steeply toward little railway tracks suspended in the air. They were obviously held in place by magic as he could not see where they connected to the cavern's walls. On the other side of the tracks was open open space as the stone passage widened into a massive cavern that went down farther than he could see. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them.

He felt some trepidation as they all piled into the cart behind Griphook. He decided to be safe he should use chakra to stick himself to the cart. It was the correct choice as the cart began hurtling down the tracks at a shockingly fast speed. He could see large iron doors spaced evenly in the walls but was moving too quickly to read the numbers on each of the vaults. One thing he was sure of was that the numbers were growing larger the deeper they went. The tracks turned sharply and sometimes he thought that they were upside down but that could have just been a trick due to the empty darkness around them. The only light in the caverns came from torches that looked like yellow streaks in the air as they flew past.

They had decided to stop at the vault that was farthest from the surface first. The Black vault was the first they went to deep in the cavern but still nowhere near the bottom. The cart shifted from tracks out in the middle of the air to tracks that bordered the narrow pathway that wound in front of the vaults.

"You wait here," Griphook told everyone but Sirius who was already climbing out of the cart.

Griphook took a ring of noisemakers that looked like a type of child's rattle. He began shaking it as he led Sirius into a dark cavern to the side of the path. He thought he saw the light grow brighter in the cavern just before they entered but felt it must have been a trick of his eyes. The noise didn't stop until Sirius and Griphook reemerged from the tunnel five minutes later. They climbed back into the cart with Sirius holding three velvet bags.

He turned to Sirius, "Why did you need to make so much noise?"

"The Black family can be paranoid. We have a dragon guarding our vaults. They are trained to back off when they hear the noise," Sirius explained.

"I see," he said slowly wondering if the dragon looked anything like the water dragon jutsu.

He decided he would look up dragons once he got to Hogwarts. One thing the Hidden Leaf had very little of was mythology apart from inspiration for a jutsu he had heard nothing about what a real dragon might be like. The Hidden Leaf was a village built by Shinobi for Shinobi, there was very little fiction available and most of what was available centred on stories about shinobi going on adventures while completing their missions. There were also porn fiction books like what Kakashi always read while he was supposed to be training them. One thing he was certain of was that no one in the elemental nations would believe that dragons were real.

The next vault they stopped at was his trust vault. He handed Griphook his key which he had to remove from the chain again. He realized why Sirius just kept his in his pocket, it was annoying to have to keep retrieving the key from the chain. Griphook used the little gold key to open door of his vault. Green smoke billowed out from inside the vault. As it cleared it revealed a massive trove of coins, mostly gold but there was also a few silver and bronze coins piled up in the corners. Sirius passed him a velvet bag that was already tinkling with various coins from the Black vault. Looking inside he was surprised by how much Sirius had given him. In a separate section of the bag he put a few gold, silver and bronze coins from his own vault. He also needed to remember to add the coins that he still had sitting in his pack at home at some point.

When they got back to the cart Hagrid turned to Griphook, "vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only," said Griphook.

Hagrid groaned as the cart began moving again. Sirius handed Gaara a velvet bag as the cart moved then pulled out the third. Sirius handed him the third bag which was even heavier than the first one Sirius gave him.

Sirius lent forward so he could be heard over the wind from the cart, "I'm going to take Hagrid to the pub for a pint after we're done. He doesn't handle the carts very well."

He looked at Hagrid who seemed to be a moment away from expelling the contents of his stomach all over everyone in the cart. He met Sirius's eyes and nodded his understanding.

"This bag is for your school supplies. The other bags I gave you earlier is your spending money for Hogwarts. I don't know how long I will be but when you are shopping for your trunks, if you get that far, make sure you get trunks with feather light charms added," Sirius advised them.

"Okay," he agreed.

When they pulled up to vault seven hundred and thirteen he saw that it had no keyhole. He watched from the cart as Griphook and Hagrid approached the door. Griphook stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers. There was a small clunking noise from behind the door before it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," Griphook said once he noticed their shocked faces.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked with a grin.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin back.

He leaned forward to see what was in the vault that was so important. He was disappointed that the only thing inside was a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. He had hoped he might see a skeleton or two but then realized how unlikely it would be for anyone to want a grubby little package like that. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it in the outside pocket of his his coat like an idiot. Harry really wanted to know what it was, but he knew better than to ask. He smiled as he decided to use the advantage his shinobi training afforded him to find out what was in that package. It was his birthday he should get to have whatever he wanted.

They rode the cart for a few more minutes heading back toward the surface. As they were exiting the bank he could see that Hargrid looked very green which was to his advantage as it meant Hagrid was slumping a bit. He subtly hid the hand signs for the multi shadow clone jutsu inside the long sleeves of his robes. He made six clones which all disguised themselves using the transformation jutsu as a family with two parents and four children of various ages. He commanded the clones disguised as small children to run into Hagrid who was not moving very quickly due to feeling sick. As they ran into him one of the clones pocketed the stone from Hagrid's pocket while the other replaced it with a stone that had been altered using the transformation jutsu. The clones pretending to be older children and the parents came to apologize and blocked the view of everyone but Gaara who saw the small child put the package into his own pocket.

Once the family of clones were finished apologizing they left to find a dark place to dispel. Hagrid and Sirius seemed to be confused by the entire encounter as they couldn't even be mad because the family was so excessive with their apologies. Sirius turned to them still keeping an eye on the disappearing family.

Sounding like he was still half distracted he said, "Why don't you two start by getting your trunks and then go to Madam Malkin's. I should be able to meet you there after we've had our drink."

"Alright, see you later," he told Sirius brightly.

Sirius and Hagrid began their walk back toward the entrance arch to the pub. As they left he and Gaara headed toward Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to get their trunks. In the shop window he saw a small telescope on display. He figured they could probably get the telescope set required for Hogwarts there as well.

Before they went into the shop Gaara pulled him into the small space between Wiseacre's and a store called Gambol and Japes which seemed like a store Sirius might enjoy. He decided they would have to go there and spend at least a small portion of what Sirius had given them on pranks. He knew it would make Sirius happy which was the goal as long as Sirius had even a little bit of power over his life.

"Why did you take the package?" Gaara asked him keeping his voice low.

"I want to know what it is," he said pulling the grubby package from the pocket of his robes, "Don't you?"

Garra raised the skin above his eye where most people had eyebrows but Gaara didn't. Garra leaned in a little closer so he could help block the view of anyone passing by on the street. With a smile he opened the string then carefully peeled off the paper in a way that would allow him to put it back on exactly as it was before. He did intend to return it to Hagrid once he knew what it was. Inside the package was what looked like a large Ruby. However it was clearly not a Ruby as it had a small golden light glowing from within it. He studied it from every angle before wrapping it back up in the packaging. Aside from the glow in its centre there wasn't anything visibly special about it. Now that he knew what it looked like though he could try to research why it was so important. He slipped it back into his pocket.

"Any idea why it's glowing?" Gaara asked.

"Not one," he told him with a shrug.

They slipped out from the shadows between the shops. Without any indication of their illicit activities to be seen they entered the first shop normally. The stone forgotten until he could return it to Hagrid when he and Sirius got back from the Leaky Cauldron.

They ended up getting trunks that not only had feather light charms but also had the option of being shrunk to a more manageable size with the tap of a wand. They also splurged on undetectable expansion charms on the various compartments so they could fill the trunks with as many things as they wanted. He got a black lacquered trunk with silver fastenings and H. Potter engraved on a silver plaque on the side. He had chosen to pay a little extra for the option to set a password on his trunk once he got his wand. Gaara's trunk was a deep rust brown with bronze fastenings and a bronze name plate. He had decided against the password as he didn't have anything to hide, or so he said. They had both got the standard school issue telescopes that had been advertised in the shop window not finding them worth the expense to get a nicer version. The engraving with the help of magic only took the shop owner two minutes to finish. Their entire purchase came to 100 galleons and 15 sickles for the two of them.

Once they were done they brought their trunks with them to Madam Malkins. He was still not a very big fan of the Witch but he knew it was better not to let her know had learnt from Sirius that Madam Malkin was the only robe shop licenced to sell Hogwarts robes. He put on a happy smile as they entered the shop. Just like last time Madam Malkin came to the front of the store almost immediately to greet them. Her eyes lit up when she saw them having just seen them two weeks ago. She glanced around for Sirius but frowned when she didn't see him behind them.

"Back for your Hogwarts robes, dears?" she asked attempting to come off as motherly.

He smiled at her despite his dislike then said with a friendly tone, "We can wait until he is done, Sirius is going to meet us here once he finishes speaking with an acquaintance he met while at gringotts."

Madam Malkin's frown was replaced with a fond smile, "Not to worry, follow me, we'll get you fitted so he won't need to wait long for you."

He let his smile widen as they were led to the back of the store. The wall of mirrors had been expanded so that there were now five fitting stools instead of the two that had been there previously. It was clear Madam Malkin expected to be busy with the students beginning to do their school shopping. On the centre stool was the other boy Madam Malkin had mentioned being fitted. He had pale skin with a pointed face. His white blond hair was slicked back with some kind of hair product which emphasized the sharp lines of his face. He had an air of arrogance surrounding him, but he knew how to deal with those sorts. He was best friends as well as rivals with Sasuke after all.

He and Gaara removed the robes they were currently wearing. They stepped onto the nearest stools to them which were the stools to the boy's right and nearest to the wall they had placed their trunks against. There was no reason to risk letting their purchases out of their site if they didn't need to. He was a bit weary about the stone in the pocket of his robes falling out so he was very careful when slipping out of his robes. He took the stool that was next to the pale boy. Madam Malkin slid a set of plain black robes over his head. The robes for students were not nearly as fine in quality as the casual robes he had purchased last time. But the list had specified work robes so he imagined they were sturdier than his everyday robes. He knew with Madam Malkin's eye for wealthy clients that she would have given him the finest quality of work robe possible which would also be the most expensive. She began pinning up the hems of the robes.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry smiling.

He thought it should be obvious that they were students. Considering their age as well as the fact that they were also being fitted in black robes, which were not the normal choice for casual wear among the magical population. Still he understood in theory that small talk always began with simple questions that are seemingly self explanatory, like the weather. He wouldn't let the stupid question colour his opinion of the boy just yet.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy with a bored tone, "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

"My Godfather thinks the same. He suggested shrinking the broom so it can be hidden in your trunk, then having one of the upper years enlarge it for you," he told the boy of Sirius's plan to get him to take a broom to school.

Personally, he felt it was a stupid plan. Not only would there be a security risk with the upper years knowing you were breaking the rules which could then later be used against you but the moment you went to fly it everyone would know you had brought a broom. Sure you could say you were borrowing it but then you would need to rely on your accomplice to lie for you. Depending on the punishment for breaking that particular rule, you would need to have a great deal of trust that they wouldn't sell you out. He had no intention of bringing a broom to Hogwarts for first year. Wizards did not share the same views of teamwork as shinobi did.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy asked excitedly.

"No, but I suspect I will by the end of the day. It's my Birthday today," he clarified when he saw the boy's frown.

He shared a knowing glance with Gaara as they had already figured out what Sirius intended to get him for his birthday.

Speaking to the boy was providing him with excellent practise for when he got to Hogwarts. If he ended up in the same house as the boy then he would even have a connection beyond Gaara and Hagrid that he could use to make his introductions. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face at so many advantages coming together. He fully intended to thrive here while he stayed for his education. He had not forgotten his desire to be Hokage but with his clones, why couldn't he have the best of both worlds? But seven years away was a longer time than he liked, he hoped magic might provide a solution. He would look into it more at Hogwarts.

"Happy Brithday," the boy smiled, "play Quidditch at all?"

"A little but it's mostly a modified version as there are only three of us at home," Harry told him, "But I love flying even when I'm not playing Quidditch."

"I do too. Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?" he knew it was just a way to make conversation but it was the second question the boy asked that sound stupid.

"No one knows until they are sorted, though I have two I believe would suit me," he told the boy.

"That's true but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy drawled looking for common ground.

He tilted his head as if he was thinking, "I don't think so. I think it could only be an advantage to have ties to a house known for its honesty, strong friendships, and hard work. Those are very useful traits but I probably won't be one myself."

The boy fell silent looking like he was deep in thought. It was clear he had never considered the advantages of befriending other houses before. He let the boy think while he turned to Gaara who had been watching the exchange silently. He knew Gaara wanted desperately to make friends in the magical world but lacked a lot of the required social skills. He hoped that once they were sorted Gaara would begin to open up to his house mates. Once he had people trying to be friendly to him he would hopefully learn the social skills he needed before they decided to not be his friend.

"What do you think Gaara? Would you hate to be a Hufflepuff?" he brought Gaara into the conversation.

"No, I like the qualities they stand for," he said neutrally while his eyes expressed his gratitude toward him.

"Most people consider them to be useless," the boy said sounding more doubtful than he had earlier.

"How can a house known for its hard work be useless?" Gaara asked.

He completed Gaara's thought, "Where we are from hard work eventually translates into skill. The harder you work the more skilled you become."

"Where are you from?" the boy asked eyes lighting up.

He silently cursed himself for his mistake. He knew he couldn't speak about the Hidden Villages or the elemental nations. One thing he had discovered since his arrival in England was that the elemental nations were not on any maps or mentioned in any books published in the last 700 years. This was why a practise conversation was so valuable. He would remember in future not to bring up the place he was from.

"Abroad," he answered vaguely, "My parents were from here though. Sirius Black is my godfather and Gaara's guardian while we attend Hogwarts."

"He is my Mother's cousin so your parents were our kind, weren't they?" the boy asked.

"They were both from magical lineages according to the test performed at gringotts," he moved subtly so that the boy could see the Stygian and Peverell heir rings.

The boy's eyes widened as he noticed the two rings. He could see a silver ring with a pale green stone on the boy's finger which showed he was also an heir to a noble house.

"Draco Malfoy," the boy said reaching out his hand to shake.

He reached over and took Draco's hand, "Hadrian Potter, and this is my friend from home Gaara Sabaku. He is a halfblood."

Draco reached further to shake hands with Gaara as well. He turned from Draco to share his amusement with Gaara. Being from abroad meant that no one would be able to say either way if Gaara was muggleborn or not. They decided he would tell anyone who asked that he was a halfblood to avoid the stigmas attached to being either a pureblood or a muggleborn.

"But if you are a Potter than that would make you a halfblood too because everyone knows Lily Potter was a mu-ggleborn," Draco said though it was clear he had been about to use a different term before changing his mind.

"My mother was also originally from abroad. She was adopted into the muggle Evans family and was never tested at gringotts when she arrived with her adoptive parents to begin school. She was believed to be muggleborn but in fact was more accurately a halfblood," Harry advised him, "The gringotts test clearly showed a magical lineage from both of my parents."

Draco shrugged, "The goblins do have their own magic with these sorts of things."

He smiled at the boy but before they could continue their conversation the witch working on Draco's robes got his attention, "You're all done."

Draco hopped from the stool and pulled on a set of sage green robes that seemed to be too fancy for everyday wear.

"It was good to meet you both," Draco nodded to both him and Gaara.

They nodded back politely before Draco followed the witch to the front of the shop. He watched his first acquaintance in the magical world his own age walk past the shop window. His attention was caught by Sirius who was standing outside holding a cage containing a beautiful snowy white owl. He looked around Sirius but with a sinking feeling noticed that there was no Hagrid. He had inadvertently stolen a very important magical stone from the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

He saw Gaara smirk at him from the next stool.

"Not one word," he warned him.

For better or worse the stone, whatever it was belonged to him now.

After another ten minutes their robes were finally finished. Unlike the previous time they had ordered robes to be delivered the Hogwarts robes were made while they waited. Once they had their robes they stored them in their trunks. The robes were only 20 galleons each so he paid Madam Malkin 160 galleons from the bag Sirius said was for their school things. He headed straight for Sirius as they exited the shop.

"Where's Hagrid?" he asked as innocently as he could.

"He had to get the package to Dumbledore as soon as possible," Sirius told him, with a smile he held up the cage, "He got you a birthday present though."

Sirius handed him the owl which was absolutely beautiful. He smiled at the animal which regarded him wearily from within the cage. It likely could sense the nature of his chakra which tended to make most animals nervous around him. He stroked it through the cage cooing at it until he felt it relax and nip at his fingers. All he needed was a bit of effort to win it over. He would also need to get it used to Gaara who may want to send letters to Sirius or owl order something while at Hogwarts.

"It's beautiful," he said happily.

"She," Sirius corrected.

"She is beautiful, I'll have to thank him once we get to Hogwarts," he promised.

"Maybe you could send him a thank you note with her," Gaara suggested.

"Brilliant. I think I will," he said happily, "Where to next Sirius?"

"We'll get your cauldron and scales then your wand. I know you'll want to overspend on books with all the reading you two do so we'll go there last," Sirius chuckled.

"Sounds great," he told him.

They went to Potage's Cauldron Shop to get their size 2 Pewter cauldrons, then to Slug and Jiggers Apothecary for their scales and protective dragon hide gloves. While they were in Slug and Jiggers he also got a basic ingredient kit. Sirius had told them that the school provided ingredients to students for potions class, but he thought he might like to explore making potions on his own. It may be that self study would be the only way to truly learn potions. He and Gaara also were advised by Sirius to purchase their own set of knives as the ones the school provided weren't the best quality.

The next stop was for their wands. The sign above the door read Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. He followed Sirius into the shop with Gaara trailing behind him. Inside the shop was a small area with two waiting chairs and a counter. When the door opened he had heard a soft tinkling bell in the depths of the store. Behind the desk were rows of shelves with hundreds of wands stacked as high as they could fit.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice.

The man it belonged to was very old. His eyes were wide and pale in his face reflecting the light from outside the window of the shop. He thought the man looked skeletal with how little flesh seemed to be on his bones but despite that the man gave off a feeling of power. His instincts wouldn't lead him astray. He instantly felt more weary of the man as well as the shop. Gaara too felt it tensing up behind him.

Sirius on the other hand seemed to enjoy being in the shop, "Mr. Ollivander, good to see you again."

"Ah yes, Sirius Black, twelve and a half inches dragon heartstring slightly springy made of spruce wood," Mr. Ollivander said, "and who is this?"

"My godson Hadrian Potter and my ward Gaara Sabaku," Sirius proclaimed.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, you look like your mother but have your father's hair. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work," Mr Ollivander said, "Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it but it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course. A pity that they snapped it when he went to Azkaban."

He heard a hiss from behind him. He glanced at Sirius who seemed to be very angry. He knew anything to do with his father and Azkaban was a sore spot for Sirius who fully believed in his innocence. He felt he should send Sirius away before he did something stupid that could jeopardize his wand selection experience. A wand was important especially if he ever wanted to be able to use the truly powerful spells.

"Sirius, could we maybe get some ice cream before we go to Flourish and Blotts?" he asked quickly.

Sirius glanced at him before smiling, "Yeah, I'll go reserve us a table."

Sirius latched onto the excuse so he could leave the store. With a sigh he turned back to Mr. Ollivander who was watching him closely without blinking. He found it a little unsettling as Mr. Ollivander came closer. He pulled out a long tape measure with silver markings.

"We'll start with Mr. Potter. Which is your wand arm?" Ollivander asked.

He wasn't sure which arm was his wand arm as he had never gotten one before. He was also ambidextrous due to his training as a Shinobi however his dominant hand for writing was his right hand.

"I'm right handed," he told Ollivander.

"Hold out your arm. That's it," Mr. Ollivander said.

With a flick of his wand the measuring tape measured him from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, around his head, and almost anywhere else it could measure while Ollivander began wandering the stacks of wands. He wasn't sure how the wandmaker could find anything in the shop with how many wands were there but after several minutes Mr. Ollivander returned with a small selection of boxes in his hands.

"That will do," he said to the tape measure which rolled itself up before returning to Ollivander's pocket, "right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

As soon as he took the wand Mr. Ollivander snatched it back from him, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand. Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy."

He took the second wand but again he didn't get the chance to wave it around as it was taken back by Mr. Ollivander almost at once, "here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy."

He waved dozens of wands quickly becoming bored with the whole experience. He wondered if he could take a break. They could let Gaara have his turn at finding a wand then come back to him. He would maybe have better luck later than he was having right now. In opposition to his own feelings Mr. Ollivander seemed to be enjoying the challenge of finding him a wand. He seemed to brighten up a little more with every failed attempt.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere," Ollivander paused as an idea struck him. "I wonder, yes, why not. This wand is an unusual combination; holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

This time when he took the wand he felt the magic in him surge up to meet it. He waved the wand which produced a stream of sparks in the colours of fire. He felt happy to have found the wand that would allow him to use the magic within him easier. He could tell that the magic was sitting nearer to the surface ready to be channelled through the wand with barely any effort. He smiled in joy at finding his wand but also that he wouldn't have to keep trying any more wands.

"Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…" Mr Ollivander muttered.

Feeling indulgent now that his own ordeal was over he asked, "What about my wand is curious?"

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It just so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather, just one other," Mr. Ollivander paused for dramatic effect, "It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother… why, its brother killed Lily Potter."

He stared at the man unsure what he should say or how to react. Sirius had found the time over the last two weeks to inform him that his family had been targeted due to a prophesy about him and the supposed dark lord. It all seemed a bit to melodramatic for his tastes but given the preexisting connection it didn't seem curious to him at all that he had gotten the wand he did.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things, terrible, yes, but great," Mr. Ollivander finished.

He glanced up at the pale wide-eyed man deciding to channel Neji Hyuuga, "It is fate."

Beside him he heard Gaara snort. Neji was unfortunately famous for his insistence that everything was preordained and therefore unavoidable so much so that even Gaara, who was from a foreign village, knew about it. They shared a smile before turning back to Mr. Ollivander who seemed to be put out by his reaction. He supposed Ollivander had been going for fear or shock. But really it wasn't even much of a surprise. He blinked up at the man innocently.

With a sigh Mr. Ollivander turned to Gaara, "Which is your wand arm?"

Instead of answering verbally Gaara just held out his left arm. With a flick the tape measure popped from Ollivander's pocket and began to measure Gaara like it had him. Mr. Ollivander came back a little quicker than before. Unlike the small stack the wandmaker had brought for him, he only brought two wand boxes with him for Gaara.

"Fourteen inches, dragon heartstring rigid made from Blackthorn," Ollivander said as he passed the first wand over.

Gaara waved the wand but instead of sparks it broke a vase that was sitting on the counter. He wasn't sure if that was a good reaction or a bad one because sometimes destruction was the intention. It also seemed to him that Gaara would suit a wand that was made for combat.

"No, Nope, definitely not," Mr. Ollivander said in a strained voice handing over the second wand, "Ebony wood with a Phoenix feather core, ten and three quarter inches, Rigid."

When Gaara waved the wand black and gold sparks streamed from the end. He clapped politely, he thought the vase exploding was more impressive himself. He smiled at Gaara who was actually managing a pretty decent smile of his own. It was always good to see progress in his friend.

He turned to his trunk and tapped it with his wand. The automatic shrinking function activated and he was able to put it into his pocket. He picked up his owl's cage as well because he wasn't able to shrink it.

"That will be fourteen galleons for the wands," Mr. Ollivander told them.

He reached into the sack of coins he had from Sirius for school supplies and passed over fourteen galleons. They exited the shop and made their way to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. As they approached he could see Sirius standing outside with a broom in his hand. Sirius had a smug look on his face as he held the broom.

"Happy Birthday, Prongslet," Sirius said presenting the broom to him.

He took the broom with a strained smile. He loved flying but now he was going to have to smuggle the broom into Hogwarts or Sirius would never forgive him. It wasn't unexpected to recieve the broom but he had hoped he wouldn't get a broom until next year.

"Thank you," he said taking the broom from Sirius.

They all had a small bowl of ice cream before they made their way to Flourish and Blotts. Inside the store was filled from floor to ceiling with shelves of books on every magical subject imaginable. He recognized several from the Black Library that he had seen when he decided to tour the shelves instead of using the index. He gathered all of his textbooks first before going through the shelves for interest. He pulled out a few theory books on non verbal and wandless magic. He knew if he ever returned to the Hidden Leaf he wouldn't be able to wave his wand around if he wanted to cast spells outside his apartment. He also slipped a few books on magical stones and crystals into his basket hoping to discover what the stone he had taken from Hagrid was.

"Prongslet," Sirius called him over.

He went over to Sirius who was holding up a book while looking way too mischievous. The book he was holding was Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian. For once he wasn't disappointed by Sirius's prankster tendencies. With a smile he slipped the book into his basket. Then he made his way toward the checkout. Gaara met him there with his own basket of books. They paid for their school books first. Then they each purchased their own books with the allowance money they had gotten from Sirius.

Gaara handed him one of the books he had purchased as a Birthday Present. The book, Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broom Care, was a companion to Sirius's gift. He smiled at Gaara as he thanked him for the book. He knew it was meant as a joke because Gaara had known he was hoping to avoid smuggling a broom into Hogwarts.

Once they had packed everything away in their trunks they left the store. With nothing left to do in Diagon Alley they headed toward the apparation point at the end. With less dread than he had felt that morning he grabbed Sirius's arm. One day he would apparate without feeling sick, believe it.


	4. Chapter 4

August passed quickly for him and Gaara as they prepared for school. They finished reading their school textbooks and the supplementary books they had purchased in Flourish and Blotts. He refused to be anything less than one of the top ten students in every class. If he was going to have to be part of this world for seven years he would make sure that they were better than the years he had spent at the academy in the hidden leaf. He had been unable to find any references to the stone he had borrowed from Hagrid in any of the books he had purchased or even in any of the books held in the black library. He decided after a week to wait until he had access to the larger Hogwarts library to look for the stone again. He would need to be careful so that Dumbledore and Hagrid wouldn't catch on that he had been the one to take the stone.

Instead he turned his attention to memorizing his textbooks for first year. He had also read the book he had gotten about the theory behind wordless and wandless magic. He spent a few days trying each of the spells in his charms textbook until he was at least semi passable at performing them silently. Wandless spells would take much more practise before he could master them fully. Some of the easiest spells he managed to do on his own, like the levitation charm, but most were still far beyond his current skill level. He could not do both wordless and wandless magic at the same time yet either. Once he could do both he had a feeling his life in the Hidden Leaf would be much easier with an advantage like that. It would almost be like having a bloodline limit technique of his own.

He also didn't want to loose his skills as a shinobi while he was studying in the wizarding world, so he often found himself sparring with Gaara during the day while Sirius was at work. Gaara's sand had stopped working independently of his will once they had arrived in Britain. As far as they could tell it had been his accidental magic giving the sand a mind of its own due to the constant threat of assassination that had loomed over him his entire life while in the hidden sand village. It had certainly made sparring more fun because he wasn't just fighting sand while Gaara stood still but an active opponent who now had to put in a lot more effort to control his sand like a regular jutsu.

As hard as he was working over the month of August it was nothing to how hard Gaara was working. Gaara was determined to put every bit of effort he had into studying magic and regaining his edge with his sand techniques. Gaara slept at least half the day away but still managed to get as much done as he did even with the help of his shadow clones. It was a feat he found worthy of his respect and admiration especially because he suspected that Gaara was also practising with his sand while he was alone as well.

Finally, the first of September arrived. He had, had a hard time falling asleep the night before due to the nervous excitement making his stomach feel like a colony of butterflies had decided to take up residence inside it. This was the day that they would be leaving Black Manor to go to Hogwarts. He had made sure that his trunk was packed the night before because he had no intention of rushing around at the last minute. He wanted to get to the Hogwarts express early so he could find an empty compartment on the train to sit in. That way potential friends and acquaintances could come to him and Gaara. It would allow him to have an advantage with any interactions he had with his fellow students because they would need to ask him if they could join him in his compartment not the other way around.

As usual he was the first one in the house awake. He made his way through the now familiar halls of his home with his shrunken trunk in his pocket already dressed in his school robes. He did not like the idea of changing in front of other children especially because ever since Kurama had passed on, the sun-shaped seal was permanently visible on his stomach. He had gathered that it was uncommon for people who were eleven to have what the wizarding world would call a tattoo. He was sure it would lead to questions he was not willing to answer about where he and Gaara had grown up.

He made it to the kitchen to find that breakfast had already been made by the house elves. He took his seat at the table where he had just finished filling his plate when Sirius came in already dressed for the day. It was strange to see the man out of bed so early on his day off. He was glad that he seemed to take his desire to arrive early to the train seriously.

"Good morning, Prongslet," Sirius said cheerfully for the morning, "There's something I need to tell you before we leave."

He waited for Sirius to continue but he seemed to be waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from him first, "Okay."

Sirius sighed quietly, "You might have noticed that I've been reluctant to allow you outside of the manor over the past several weeks."

He hadn't noticed. He had been so busy trying to learn as much as he could from books about wizard society and then working a year ahead in his school books that it had honestly not crossed his mind to leave the manor. He hadn't really had anywhere to go or anyone to visit. However, looking back it was true that the only time they had left the manor since arriving had been for their school shopping. Not wanting to admit his slip in attention he simply nodded.

"Well, congratulations Harry you're famous," Sirius said with a nervous laugh.

"Why exactly am I famous?" he asked skeptically.

Sirius leaned back in his chair running a hand over his face, "Twelve years ago a prophesy was given by a seer that stated only you could defeat You-Know-Who. It is why your parents had to go into hiding. They cast a spell that would allow their location to remain a secret held by our friend Wormtail, but he betrayed them while Lily was pregnant with you. She was killed but somehow when the body was examined, despite her only having been a few months pregnant when she died, you were gone but according to the self updating records in the ministry still alive. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a pile of ashes on the floor but his followers maintained that he was also still alive because his mark on their bodies didn't disappear. As a result the prophesy was considered to still be in play, you were a miracle because you had managed to survive but also the greatest mystery in the history of the Wizarding world as no one knew how you survived or where you were. I've been keeping reporters and curious fans away from the manor but as you will be going to school with children who grew up hearing stories about you I thought I should give you a fair warning."

"Why didn't you tell me right away?" he said voice rising higher than he intended, "Now I have to factor this revelation into all of the plans I made."

He had planned to be the intelligent go to tutor for the other children in his year group. He was intending to foster connections that would be to his advantage while not making any promises in return other than being willing to use his intelligence to assist them in their various aspirations. Now he had been told he would be seen as a hero by default so the world had all of these expectations of him that he would need to make at least a minor effort to live up to. It was annoying that now he would need to be seen living up to expectations while trying not to alienate any classmates who were on the opposite side during this conflict that occurred before he was even born. He also had to worry about weeding out the connections that would seek to use him for his fame or money. He groaned into his plate.

Sirius reached out an arm and squeezed his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure a smart kid like you will figure out how to handle it. I didn't tell you right away because I wanted to give you time to get used to being in the wizarding world before you were made to deal with this too."

He huffed, "Are you sure the prophesy was about me specifically?"

"You were the only baby born at the end of July. Your birthday still was the end of July right?" Sirius asked.

"July 31st," he had been born at night because that was when the Kyuubi's attack had begun but he didn't know the exact time.

"I still don't understand how you survived, any ideas?" Sirius prodded.

He knew it was a jutsu of some kind because Kushina had never had magic or she would have gone to Hogwarts with Lily. Unfortunately, he had no idea which jutsu she could have used. He was also very sure he was not telling anyone in the wizarding world about shinobi or the elemental nations.

"No one ever said," he told Sirius with a shrug.

Just then Gaara walked into the kitchen with a large yawn also dressed in his school robes. Sirius smiled at him as he sat down.

"Excited to go to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"I wish we didn't need to get up so early," Gaara complained, "Why can't you just apparate us to the school instead of this Hogwarts Express?"

Sirius laughed, "It's tradition, you'll love the ride to Hogwarts. Think of all the friends you'll make on the train. I met all of my best friends on the train."

Sirius said the last whistfully. He seemed to be caught in memories that made him both happy and sad at the same time.

"Maybe," Gaara said.

Gaara was trying to look like he didn't care but he could tell by the tightness in his expression that he really wanted to make friends. As the days passed he began to suspect that he and Gaara were likely not going to be in the same house however, he had accepted it as an advantage as it would help him to make connections with students in other houses easier. He smiled reassuringly at Gaara trying to convey that he would always have him. He though he saw some of the muscles in his face loosen but it could have been his imagination.

As soon as they had apparated onto Platform 9 3/4 he was hit with a wall of sound. There were already several families with their trunks and animals. He wondered why the wizarding children at least didn't have their trunks shrunk down like he did, the feature wasn't really expensive to add. The only thing he actually needed to carry was Hedwig's cage. The owl didn't seem overly fond of the noise or the confinement if the fluffing of her feathers was any indication. He felt a little bad because he hadn't had any use for her over the summer aside from delivering his thank you note to Hagrid who had not sent back a response. He assumed that was probably due to the panic of having lost the stone he was meant to retrieve.

In front of him was a large train with a scarlet steam engine that had the words Hogwarts Express printed on it in shiny gold paint. The steam billowing out from the chimney was thick in the air giving the entire platform a misty view. He was glad it was thin enough to see his immediate surroundings so he wouldn't need to worry about bumping into anyone by accident. The number of people made him worried about being able to find a free compartment. He turned to Sirius with a small smile and hugged him quickly.

"I want to find an empty compartment. I'll write you once we're sorted," he said stepping back.

"I'll see you both at Christmas," Sirius said, also hugging Gaara.

He chuckled at the way Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and his cheeks pinked. Once Gaara was released they made their way onto the train waving briefly to Sirius before they lost sight of him in the crowd.

The train itself was already packed with students. As they walked down the aisle of the train they had to weave past several other students who were looking for compartments with their friends inside or shouting out the windows at their families. A few cars down near the middle of the train they were finally able to find a compartment that was completely empty. He and Gaara sat on opposite sides of the compartment taking the window seats for themselves. The Platform was on the opposite side of the train from the compartments so they mostly just had a view of a stone wall while they waited for other students to board the train.

To his surprise no one seemed to want to stop at their compartment. He watched a stream of children and teenagers make their way down the aisle of the train but no one knocked on the door to see if they could sit with them. He felt himself growing annoyed at his plans beginning to fall through right from the start. After an hour of waiting the train began pulling away from the platform. He watched out the window as the stone wall disappeared. They passed several buildings as they made their way out of the city. Even if he met no one else on the train he would have plenty of opportunities to create connections once he had met his house mates at the sorting.

He was just about to ask Gaara if he had thought to bring anything for lunch when the compartment door slid open. At the door was a redheaded boy with a smudge of dirt on his nose. He felt his nose wrinkle in disdain at the lack of proper cleanliness wondering why no one had bothered to tell the boy. His jeans were faded and frayed and the old trunk he carried was worn and beaten. Nothing he had looked new even his was looked like it had seen better days.

"Everywhere else is full," the boy said as he entered the compartment without asking.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the boy put his trunk on the rack. Even though he wouldn't have said no to him sitting there it was still proper manners to ask. Being polite could never hurt but the boy's rudness made it highly unlikely they would be friends. Unlike Sasuke who got away with being rude because he was otherwise talented, rich, and good looking; this boy had none of those things so he would not be forgiven so easily. Gaara got up to help him lift his trunk onto the rack when it looked like he was struggling with the weight. He locked eyes with Gaara asking without words what he thought he was doing. The responding raised eyebrow conveyed enough to let him know that Gaara wasn't going to start a fight over the boy sitting with them. He huffed but accepted that there was nothing he could do without making a terrible impression. This boy could end up as a future house mate so there was no reason to risk hostilities now.

"You have dirt on your nose," he advised tapping his own nose to indicate where the dirt was.

The boy's face blushed from the roots of his hair down to his neck as he hurried to wipe off the dirt with the sleeve of his robes. All the boy managed to do was smudge the dirt around so it was more obvious than ever. He sighed but let it go as he didn't deem the boy worth the trouble. The boy glanced at him with a frown before turning his attention to Gaara who had so far been much more friendly.

"Thanks for helping with my trunk," the boy said holding out his hand to shake, "Ronald Weasley."

"Gaara Sabaku," Gaara shook hands with the boy.

Gaara turned to him once again giving him a significant look that said 'your turn' quite clearly. Ronald followed the look to him with a nervous smile on his face.

With a sigh he put on his blandest smile, "Hadrian Potter."

Ronald's eyes lit up and his mouth opened to say something but the door opened before he was able to speak.

"Hey Ron," two voices said in unison.

It was clear from the shared features that they were related to Ronald.

"We're going to see Lee's tarantula," one twin said.

"Want to come?" the second twin asked with a wicked grin.

While he watched Ronald's face went white with terror. He made sure to make a mental note of the weakness in case he ever needed to use it. He would of course only use it if it was absolutely necessary because it would likely only be able to be used once.

"I'm good here, thanks," Ronald squeaked.

He smiled at the twins who seemed more interesting than their younger relative. He saw they were not in their uniforms so he wasn't sure which house they were in.

"Hadrian Potter," he held out his hand in greeting.

The twins shared a look before grinning back, "Sorry for not introducing ourselves. I'm Fred, and this is George. Ron's our little brother."

"A pleasure to meet you both," he shook both of their hands.

With matching grins the twins left the compartment. It seemed the only reason they had entered the compartment was to torment their brother. He knew from the few stories Kiba had shared that it was a common theme among siblings so he assumed it came from a place of affection. It likely never occurred to them that they were giving away valuable information that could be used against Ron.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out once his brothers were gone.

He wasn't sure why his identity was being called into question by a boy he had just met. He crossed his arms over his chest before glancing away. After a few moments of silence he realised Ron was actually expecting him to answer.

"Why would I lie about my own name?" he asked the glass of the window.

He watched Ronald in the reflection of the glass. He was fidgeting in his seat while looking to Gaara for help. He rolled his eyes at the boy wondering if he was being a bit too judgemental for a first meeting. It was simply that the boy didn't seem like someone he could like. The twins on the other hand seemed like the type who would be relentless if they were your enemy. They were the ones he would rather cultivate a relationship with assuming they didn't hate him automatically for being in a different house.

"He is Hadrian Potter," Gaara confirmed.

"Wow," Ron said breathless.

He watched in the window as the boy perked up, "Where were you? Why did you disappear? Were you in hiding from You-Know-Who? Do you know how you survived? This is so great. I can't believe I am meeting The Harry Potter. I've read stories all about you."

He finally turned from the window and blinked at the boy across the compartment, "You read stories about me?"

Ron nodded his head and launched into an explanation about how there were a series of children's books all about him going on adventures as he fights against evil. He listened to Ron as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the parchment and ever-inking quill he kept there in case he wanted to make notes on something to look up later. As Ron spoke he wrote a letter to Garnok to see about getting money from anyone using his name for profit. He had taken the time to read all the books on wizard law he could find in the Black Library and knew he was entitled to a portion of any profits being made by the use of his name. Of course when he had read the law book he had no idea that it would apply to him. It was fortunate that he took the time to study up on the world he had found himself in. He realized the wizarding world was designed to cater to those with money as he read the laws, so it would never hurt to have more money than he already did.

"That was very informative Ronald. Thank you," he said pleasantly once Ron was done explaining all about him.

He stood up to open Hedwig's cage. The snowy owl flew once around the compartment before landing on the back of the seat he was sitting on. With a tap of his wand he sealed the letter with a wax seal in the shape of the potter crest. He opened the window enjoying the wind in his hair. He held up the parchment for Hedwig who grabbed it in her talons on her way out the window.

He turned back around to find Ron looking at him suspiciously, "Who did you just send a letter to?" Ron asked.

"Sirius," he lied easily.

It wasn't any of Ronald's business who he decided to write letters to. From the look Gaara sent him he knew he would need to explain the truth later. Gaara knew him too well by now to be easily lied to, not that he would ever want to lie to Gaara. He knew that due to Gaara's uncle attempting to assassinate him as a child he valued honesty very highly. In fact even when Gaara was an insane murderous shinobi who was never allowed to sleep he had never made any attempt to lie about it. He could respect the fact that he had no issue telling someone he was going to kill them and then doing so. He was glad however that Gaara had put that time behind him and was looking to move forward now. He had grown a lot more patient and friendly once he was able to actually sleep regularly.

"Are all of your family wizards?" Gaara asked to change the focus of the conversation away from him.

"Yes, well, mostly, I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him," Ron said dismissively.

"Your brother's seem interesting," he mused.

"I have five brothers," Ron said wilting in his seat, "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. My sister will be going next year. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny with the pranks they pull all the time. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

He felt his interest catch on the last word. He really didn't have time to listen to so much whining so he had mostly tuned Ron out. If he wanted to be better than he would simply need to work for it. If not then he was free to complain about his lack of success to someone else. He knew from Sirius that the reason no one had found Peter so they could clear his father's name was because Peter was a rat animagus, most likely living in a sewer somewhere.

"Can I see it? The only rats I've seen are the one's Hedwig brings home," he said sweetly.

Ron reached inside his jacket pocket with a shrug. He pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. His eyes focused right away on the fact that the rat was missing a toe. He smiled as he once again made another mental note to keep track of Peter in case he needed to get his Father out of Azkaban for some reason in the future. Depending on how Sirius reacted to his sorting it may need to be sooner rather than later.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff-, I mean, I got Scabbers instead," Ron blushed looking away from them at his slip.

Gaara seemed to want to say something to cheer Ron up but looked like he was having a hard time coming up with anything to say. As the son of the Kazekage Gaara had never been poor. As a jinchūriki he was often sent on the higher ranked missions so he also made good money on his own. He decided he should help before the awkward silence became too hard to break.

"So think you'll be in Slytherin?" he asked.

It seemed a fair question. With five successful older brothers to live up to it would be reasonable to assume that Ron would want to surpass them all. A large ambition like that would fit in with Slytherin though the boy was hardly cunning.

"I would never want to be an evil snake," Ronald spat, "How dare you."

He raised his eyebrows calmly, "Why do you think Slytherin is evil, Ronald?"

Ron's mouth was opening and closing like a fish he was so shocked, "Everyone knows there isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

"As I understood it from Hogwarts: A History, it is the house of ambition and cunning. They are known to be resourceful, shrewd, and determined. Where I come from hate crime is quite common. It has always been my desire to become a leader there so that I might have the power to put an end to such a foul crime. It is a very ambitious goal. Ronald, do you think that makes me evil?" he asked maintaining eye contact.

"Well, no," Ron hesitated.

"And you, Ronald, you have five older brothers, all of them successful in Hogwarts. Do you not have a dream or ambition of your own? Do you not wish to surpass them all and be more successful than they are?" he could see Ron squirming in his seat.

"I want to be an auror," Ron said softly.

"Do you want to just be an auror? Or, would you rather be the head auror? From what I understand the head auror is a political position, would you not then need to be cunning, shrewd, resourceful, and determined to out manoeuvre the competition and secure the job?"

"I-," he interrupted before Ron could continue.

"Therefore, the requirements for getting where you hope to be are they not Slytherin traits?" He finished.

"Most of Slytherin is evil," Ron said defensively crossing his arms over his chest, "But there could be some exceptions."

He smirked triumphantly that his argument had won. Ron was stubborn and would most likely go to Gryffindor. Gaara rolled his eyes at him but was smiling a little to himself while they all sat in silence. The train was moving quickly and they had long since left the buildings of the city behind. Out of the window was a view of farmers fields and meadows where cows and sheep grazed. Every so often they would pass through a thicket of trees before the fields and meadows returned.

Across the compartment he could hear Ron and Gaara discussing Quidditch together softly. Outside the compartment he could hear the clattering sound of something being rolled along the aisle. The door the to the compartment slid open to reveal a friendly looking witch with grey hair and a plump figure.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked smiling kindly.

"Mum made me sandwiches," Ron said gloomily.

He had discovered while living with Sirius that he had a great fondness for chocolate. Apparently Sirius kept so much chocolate in the house in case his friend Moony ever decided to visit. As far as he could tell Remus had never visited him once since his father went to prison, even before he and Gaara had arrived.

He and Gaara both stood to take a look at the cart. The house elves had wanted to pack them a lunch but Sirius wouldn't hear of it because the trolley was part of the experience of going away to Hogwarts, it would have been a shame if they missed out on it. The trolley was filled with several different snacks and candy but he decided just to get a few chocolate frogs and a couple of cauldron cakes. He paid the witch five sickles and ten knuts for his treats and returned to his seat.

He ate the cauldron cakes first because they were more filling than the chocolate frogs. Across from him Gaara was sharing the treats he had bought with Ron. He thought it was nice that Gaara was learning how to make friends on his own but worried that they might drift apart if he made too many. He glanced up and found Gaara looking at him. He smiled knowing it would never happen. Gaara was the closest he was likely to get to a sibling. He felt strongly that even if they ended up in separate houses they would be able to remain just as close. He would make sure of it.

He opened his first chocolate frog catching it before it could jump onto the floor which would be very unhygienic. The first frog he had ever opened had gone to waste because he had refused to eat it off the floor.

He pulled out the card while he ate. He had a few cards so far but didn't really care about collecting them. He looked at the picture of a wizened old man with half moon spectacles. The name on the bottom of the card was Albus Dumbledore. The man also had a crooked nose like it hadn't been healed correctly after it was broken which spoke to his level of competence as a wizard. He wondered how he had managed to become headmaster if he couldn't even manage to heal his own nose. From the book on charms he had read the spell was one of the simpler healing spells.

"I've got about 500 cards but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy," Ron mentioned.

"You can have mine, I'm not really interested in the clutter," he said without thinking.

He turned over the card to see if Dumbledore had ever done anything aside from botching a simple healing charm that even he could manage without ever having gone to Hogwarts yet.

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

He supposed it sounded impressive but he would reserve judgement until he met the man. It looked like he was quite old so it was entirely possible he was past his prime and senile. There was no way to know until he met the man. He glanced up to see Ron looking at him with his mouth hanging open. He had almost forgotten about his impulsive offer to give him his chocolate frog cards.

With a sigh he pulled his trunk from his pocket. He tapped the trunk with his wand, unshrinking it before digging around for the chocolate frog cards he had gathered. He tossed the neat little bundle over to Ron before closing and re-shrinking his trunk.

He had just placed it back in his pocket when the compartment door slid open. He recognized Draco Malfoy instantly from Madam Malkin's but had never seen the other two boys behind him before. He glanced at them with curiosity before he smiled at Draco.

"I heard you both were in this compartment. I wanted to introduce you to my," Draco paused briefly, "friends."

He had little doubt that Malfoy would have preferred the term minion. Across the compartment Gaara snorted before smiling when their eyes met. He missed his own minions back in the hidden leaf. Hopefully, he could pick up a few while he attended Hogwarts. He would respect the fact that the two beefy boys behind Draco were his minions and not try to steal them from him.

"This is Crabbe," Draco gestured to the mean looking boy to the right, then gestured to the mean looking boy on the left, "and this is Goyle."

He nodded politely to each of them before turning his attention back to their leader. Spending time on the minions was pointless as they would follow where their master led them. He had felt like Draco was worth knowing when they had met before so he was willing to put in the effort to be friendly.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintances," he said turning back to Draco, "Please have a seat."

Draco took the offered seat next to him, "I had hoped to run into you before we reached Hogwarts."

Ron snickered into his hand across the compartment.

"Think what I said was funny do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford," Draco said with a sneer, "you'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others."

"I'm sure you are right however just because one's parents are not successful does not mean the children will not be. I would advise you not to write anyone off until after OWLS at least," he said smiling at Draco.

"Didn't you say something similar in Madame Malkin's?" Gaara added.

"Yes, about Hufflepuff and how they have traits I can admire even if I myself do not possess them," he smiled at Gaara.

Draco looked thoughtful, "Father did say the oldest Weasly was a curse breaker for Gringotts or something."

"A valuable profession," he agreed, "Ronald was it easy for Bill to become a curse breaker?"

Ron puffed up a little as if it was his own accomplishment, "You need to be really smart especially to get a job with Gringotts. Curse breaker's are really rare."

"I suppose you are right," Draco nodded before turning to sneer at Ron, "Do try to make something of yourself."

He saw Gaara casually reach out to grab Ron's arm. Judging by the tense lines of his body under his ugly sweater and jeans Ron was ready to throw himself on Draco. Unskilled as he was he probably wouldn't inflict any major damage but it would still be annoying to clean up the mess. He decided he would rather not watch them get into a fist fight in his compartment.

"Ronald," he said to get Ron's attention away from Draco, "I just noticed everyone is in their robes aside from you. The sun has almost set we should be close to Hogwarts."

Ron looked around and seemed to notice for the first time that he was the only one not wearing his robes.

"I suppose I will see you when we get off the train," Draco said standing to leave, he nodded at him and Gaara while ignoring Ron.

He stood to follow them into the aisle. He slid the compartment door closed behind him before surreptitiously checking around them to make sure they were alone. He didn't want anyone overhearing what he was about to say. It was bad enough that the minions were still present.

"Did you manage to bring your broom," he asked with a smile leaning against the closed door.

Draco smirked at him in response, "Your advice was very helpful."

"One more piece of advise then. If you can, bring your trunk to the sorting with you, you never know who might see inside it if you leave it on the train for the servants," having given his warning he slipped back into the compartment.

When he returned Gaara was waiting for an explanation with his arms crossed and foot tapping.

"I was giving him a helpful piece of advice," he said defensively.

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked.

He had changed into his robes while he was speaking to Draco. They were faded to more of a dark grey than a true black fraying along the edges. He supposed that was to be expected if they were hand-me-downs from his older siblings.

"We met him in Diagon Alley while we were school shopping," Gaara informed him.

"I've heard about his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

"I don't believe in light or dark magic," he told Ron softly, "The world is in shades of grey. I think it's best to learn to manoeuvre in the shadows."

"Right," Ron rolled his eyes.

A voice echoed through the train even though he couldn't see any speakers, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

He snorted at the same time Gaara did. Neither of them were stupid enough to leave their trunks on the train. They had both brought their shinobi gear with them to continue practising while at the school. He knew the house elves would have been ordered to search their trunks for anything they weren't supposed to bring. If anyone asked he could just tell them he forgot it because it had been in his pocket the whole trip. He did decide to leave Hedwig's cage behind. There was no reason to drag it around the school especially when Hedwig was gone delivering a letter.

The train gradually slowed down until in came to a gentle stop. He waited a few minutes for most of the students to push their way off the train. Once he was sure he wouldn't be squished by an overeager student he, Gaara and Ron made their way into the aisle.

As they exited the train he heard a voice he recognized as Hagrid's bellowing at the crowd of students,"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's beamed at him having spotted him in the crown somehow. He did wish people would stop calling him Harry. His name was Hadrian. It also bothered him that Gaara wasn't mentioned and now all the other first years were trying to get a look at the famous student. It was annoying but he smiled at Hagrid anyway because he had technically stolen from him. It was the least he could do. As far as he was concerned they were now even.

"C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Hagrid led the way down a steep muddy path. Every so often he felt his foot slide out from under him. Some of the other children were holding on to each other to stay upright. Thanks to his shinobi training he was able to correct his balance without attempting to drag Gaara down with him. The path was barely big enough for the giant man to fit through the trees but had space for all of them to walk in pairs.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

The path led to a small inlet where there was a long rickety dock. Along the dock was a fleet of small child sized boats each with its own lantern to light the water in front of it. Across the lake was the castle of Hogwarts lording over the lake on top of the cliff. It was nothing like the sprawling wooden castles that the daimyo's lived in back in the elemental nations. It was a large stone building with hundreds of windows going up several floors with large spiralling towers reaching toward the sky.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out.

He went with Gaara and got in a boat that had a solemn looking boy with dark curly hair. The boy didn't introduce himself when they got into the boat, he looked at Ron with a sneer. Ron's family seemed to have a pretty poor reputation in the wizarding world. He wondered if it was worth being friendly with him if he didn't have any connections that might benefit him. He might just keep him as an acquaintance rather than a friend until he could see how likely it was for him to achieve his career goal of being an auror.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted while he looked down the line of boats, once he was satisfied no one was left behind Hagrid yelled, "FORWARD!"

The boats began to move across the lake under their own power. There was the odd whisper from some of the ruder students during the journey to the castle but it was mostly silent. The large castle loomed above them on the cliff growing bigger the further they sailed from the docks. They came to a curtain of ivy and Hagrid yelled at them all to put their heads down. He felt the damp strands of ivy run across his head and shoulders dripping water down the neck of his robes as their boat moved through the curtain. On the other side was a large chamber roughly carved from the mountain. The boats gently bumped into the stone docks inside the cave allowing them all to climb out safely.

Once everyone was out the group gathered to follow Hagrid up a stone stairway that led to the surface. They exited what seemed to be a small shed and followed the pathway to the front doors of the castle. The doors of the castle were so large that they dwarfed even Hagrid.

Hagrid knocked three times on the castle door. He wondered why they closed the doors on the first years to begin with when they had to have been opened for the second through seventh years only a short time ago. It was probably for the sake of unnecessary showmanship. He hoped whoever was meant to open the doors would do so soon.


	5. Chapter 5

After a short wait the doors of the castle opened allowing a soft golden light to spill out onto the lawn. Silhouetted in the doorway was a stern looking with in emerald robes. Her black hair was pulled into a tight bun that seemed to stretch her face to the sides if the thinness of her lips was any indication.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said to the woman.

Based on appearances alone he had no intention of getting on this teacher's bad side. Although to be fair he wasn't planning to get on any of the teachers' bad sides if he could avoid it. He needed to use his time at the school wisely so that by the time he returned to the Hidden Leaf he would have knowledge and power other shinobi lacked.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," she turned her back walking into the school expecting to be followed.

The first thing he took note of were the exits. There was the door they had come in, another set of large doors that he could hear the sounds of hundreds of voices coming from which likely led to the great hall, a large marble staircase going toward the next floor, in its shadow a smaller opening with stairs going down beneath the castle, a hallway going further into the castle, and two smaller closed doors. The Entrance hall itself was very large with high vaulted ceilings. The space was lit with dozens of merrily flickering torches. Along the walls there were several moving paintings which would have startled him had he not spent the summer in a wizarding home.

McGonagall led them across the flagstone floor to the nearest door. The door led into a small empty room with bare walls apart from a few flickering torches. The room itself would ordinarily have been fairly average in size however with so many students gathered into it the space seemed much smaller than it actually was. He found was having some difficulty maintaining his personal space. He crowded close to Gaara because if his space needed to be invaded then he would prefer it was invaded by a friend he found trustworthy. He grabbed Gaara's hand while they waited for everyone to quiet down so the Professor could speak.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began, "The opening banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

He felt his eyes narrow at the last words. Why wouldn't he spend his free time with other houses? It almost sounded like they didn't provide any way for those who had family or friends in other houses to maintain their close relationships. With how large the castle appeared to be from the outside it should be simple to provide a common lounge space for the students from different houses to mingle. This made him suspicious. It may be a good thing if Gaara was sorted into another house. It would give him the necessary excuse he needed to remedy the situation. He refused to loose his opportunity to make connections across all the houses so that he could take advantage of their useful traits.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of each year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," McGonagall eyed them all sternly.

He watched as several other students shuffled nervously smoothing imaginary creases from their robes or flattening their hair. One girl had pulled out a small mirror which was quickly making its way around the girls in the room. He smirked deciding not to bother, there had never been anything that could help his hair and his robes were impeccable.

"I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly," Professor McGonagall said as she left the room.

As soon as the door had closed whispers filled the waiting room. He and Gaara remained silent as they had been trained to do. They were not in the hidden villages anymore but they were still shinobi. He took note of the snatches of conversation he could hear and made a mental note of any information he might find useful which wasn't much.

He had never been more grateful for his training then when a group of transparent people, ghosts, floated into the chamber while speaking among themselves. His eyes widened as he tensed. He felt a chill travel down his spine as he shifted in discomfort. Ghosts made him uncomfortable ever since a villager had told him that his victims would haunt him. He didn't actually have any victims but he was pretty sure he wouldn't like being haunted no matter the reason. He had never seen a ghost before but he managed not to jump or scream like some of the other first years did. After a moment he relaxed back into a neutral alertness. It was unlikely the school would let ghosts wander if they were dangerous to the students. Even wizards couldn't be that illogical.

"I say, what are you all doing here?" an oddly dressed ghost in tights with a ruffle around his neck asked breaking off from the conversation he had been having with a fat balding ghost.

Nobody answered him not even the magically raised students like Draco or Ron who seemed to be just barely less shocked that the other students. It seemed ghosts were not overly common in the wizarding world which he felt very grateful for.

"New students!" said the fat ghost in a drab shapeless looking robe as he smiled around at them, "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely while others paled and tried to step back without appearing to be too rude.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff," said the fat ghost. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start," McGonagall said as she reentered the room.

She waved the ghosts out of the room. She then began fussing with the robes of the nearest first years while eyeing everyone else critically.

With a sigh as though giving up on everyone looking just so, she straightened to her full height, "Now, form a line and follow me."

They all moved to do as they were told. The ghosts floated through the wall toward the Great Hall as they all headed for the door. The room was too small for them all to line up in single file so they all crowded the door and slipped into single file as they exited the room. Gaara got into line directly behind him while he followed a short girl with red hair from the room. They walked a short way across the entrance hall and through the second set of double doors into the Great Hall.

Much like the rest of the wizarding world the entire space was lit by firelight. Thousands of candles floated above the house tables and the staff table at the far end which sat on a platform. The ceiling reflected the sky outside which he knew because he had read Hogwarts: A History. It was a clear night so the ceiling reflected millions of stars and a half moon. One wall was filled with windows which would allow plenty of natural light in during the day. The student tables were already filled by the older students with a small space at the ends nearest the staff table for the new students to sit. The plates and goblets were empty of food and drink reflecting the firelight from the candles so they almost appeared to be liquid gold at first glance.

They were led on to the platform where the staff table was located. They were arranged to stand facing out toward the older students. He did not feel comfortable being ogled by a bunch of curious older students. He felt his face slip into a blank mask to hide his growing annoyance. He made note of the small side door behind the staff table as a possible exit should he desire to flee. It was the only other exit from the hall apart from the main doors. Already on the platform in front of them was a small wooden stool with an ugly ancient looking hat that appeared as though it had never been cleaned. He had a sinking feeling they were going to make him wear it. A thousand years of nervous students sweat was on that hat, the very idea made him sick to his stomach.

The hat seemed to jolt slightly causing a tear in the brim to open. Then the ugly old hat began to sing them a song.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Once the hat had finished the older students and some of the first years applauded the Hat. It bent down in an approximation of a bow before going rigid like a proper hat should be. Professor McGonagall waited for the applause to die down before pulling a long roll of parchment from the sleeve of her robes.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she explained to them before calling the first name, "Abbott, Hannah!"

A little blonde girl rushed forward to put the hat on her head. After a few moments the girl, Hannah, became the first Hufflepuff. As the students were sorted he was able to identify where all the houses were sitting. The table on the right, next to the stone wall, were Hufflepuffs. The table second from the left belonged to the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindors' table was between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw which left Slytherin with the table next to the windows. It was the table that he felt had the best location. On sunny days the sunlight would warm their table and if they sat facing the windows they would have an excellent view of the grounds for breakfast and lunch.

Every time a student was sorted their table clapped for them. The clapping from Slytherin was far more muted and polite than the other houses but the whole house still clapped. In contrast the Griffyndors tended to yell as well as clap whenever they got a new student making them the loudest by far. There were thirty nine students in total but he only cared about one of them, apart from himself, of course.

"Potter, Harry!"

With his blank mask still firmly in place he made his way toward the stool. After reading about the houses he felt he could probably go to any house. Being a trained shinobi he was brave by default as it was a very dangerous career. A shinobi had to be cunning to be successful, becoming the Hokage was also a very ambitious goal. Training to be a shinobi, then staying in shape to continue completing missions took a lot of hard work. The only house he was unsure of was Ravenclaw but he supposed that his dedication to self study and all the books he had read since his arrival in Magical Britain would probably qualify him for a spot in the house if he wanted it.

As he walked to the stool he could hear the other students whispering things like "Potter, did she say?" or "The Harry Potter?". It was obvious that Sirius had not been lying when he said he was famous. He hoped it would work in his favour but it could just as easily ruin his chances to achieve his goals. It depended on how the public perceived him. Growing up hated like he did had taught him the importance of public opinion. It would be a shame if the same situation were to befall him while he was in school. He would have no escape for seven years.

He placed the Hat lightly on his head trying to avoid contact with it as much as possible. Then he waited for it to sort him into his house.

"Hmm," said a male voice directly into his mind.

He immediately felt himself tense. He did not like to have anyone in his mind but himself, Kurama had been the only exception but even he was long gone.

"I see you think you have everything figured out. Plots and connections to achieve grand ambitions, yes, better be SLYTHERIN!" the hat said the last word out loud and he couldn't help but think he had said it in a bit of a sleazy drawl.

The hall was completely silent aside from a few uneasy clappers at the Slytherin table. He knew they were wondering how heroic a Slytherin hero could possibly be. He felt no shame in his house because he was fully committed to making his plans come to fruition. He would show any who were doubting him just how heroic he could be. He would seek his connections among all the houses while Slytherin was the best house to help him achieve his aims.

He walked over to the table next to the windows. Draco was gesturing to the seat next to him as the girl who had previously been sitting next to him moved further down the bench. Not wanting to seem rude he took the offered seat. Draco had been one of the few to clap for him so he owed it to him. Once the whispers had died down McGonagall continued the sorting. He remained polite as the other students were sorted. He remained quiet until "Sabaku, Gaara" was called.

He lent forward with interest as he watched his friend make his way toward the stool. Gaara put on the hat with a slightly disgusted look slipping through his mask. He didn't think Gaara would make it to Slytherin as it took more than just being a psycho killer who was slightly insane in the past due to a chakra monster that wouldn't let you sleep. Who Gaara actually was as a person post insomnia induced madness was very different from pre insomnia induced madness Gaara and still growing and evolving into wizard Gaara. His goal was to make sure that wizard Gaara remained as his brother despite the differences in their personalities.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.

He clapped for his friend smiling wider at him when their eyes met. Gaara was the most loyal person he knew, he worked hard to get the same amount of studying done in half the hours without shadow clones, he was always honest even when he was telling people he was planning to kill them before doing so, also given the first assassin sent to kill him had been his uncle who had spent his entire life lying to him about loving him he valued honesty more than anyone else he knew. Living with Sirius patience was a must and most of the prank wars had been settled by the compromises Gaara had negotiated. He had known as soon as he read Hogwarts: A History what the most likely outcome would be for Gaara. It was also to his benefit as now he had a connection with the house that he felt was most useful to him due to their loyalty and willingness to work hard. They could be trusted not to stab you in the back which would be helpful as he had a feeling his house mates prided themselves on their ability to stab others in the back when it was least expected.

Once the last student "Weasley, Ronald" had been sorted into Gryffindor just like the boy had wanted Professor McGonagall rolled the parchment back up then left through the side door with the stool and Sorting Hat, he assumed so she could put them away until next year. Once she had left, the Great Hall went quiet as the Headmaster got to his feet. He twinkled out at the students wearing the most obnoxious robes he had seen yet, mostly due to the pattern of little sparkling rainbow stars. Colour was something he had come to expect from the wizarding world but usually it was worn in a more tasteful way.

"Welcome," Dumbledore said opening his arms to encompass all the gathered students, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

With that said the Headmaster returned to his seat with a large smile while the other tables cheered and clapped. He felt glad knowing his own house wasn't willing to encourage his strange behaviour. Theirs was the only table that remained mostly silent. A few people made a small effort to clap the bare minimum thought would be considered polite, mostly the ones who were wearing shining silver badges on their robes.

"Are we sure he isn't perhaps a bit senile?" he asked Draco quietly.

"Oh, he is definitely insane," Draco sniffed, "My Father, who is on the board of governors, has been trying to get rid of him for years. Unfortunately, there are too many people on the board who are in his pocket. Father wanted to send me to Durmstrang, but Mother wouldn't hear of me going so far away."

"I see," he said hesitantly.

He hoped the rest of the teaching staff were more reliable than the Headmaster seemed to be. Looking across the head table he felt it was difficult to judge by the standards he had grown up with. A greasy haired teacher caught his eye sneering at him like he was personally offended by his existence. It was a look he was used to which made a heavy lump form in his gut. He looked away determined to ignore the man as much as he possibly could.

"Did it really matter if you went to a boarding school here or further away? Your mother will still only see you on holidays," he decided to move the conversation forward.

"Apparently, it's the principle," Draco pouted.

"I see," he thought that was likely the same argument his Father used before he lost.

"I should probably introduce you to the rest of our year. Most of us grew up together because our population is pretty small," Draco told him.

Once Draco made his announcement the rest of the first years stopped their own conversations to look at him and Draco. It was then he noticed that there was a rudimentary hierarchy to the way everyone was sitting. Now that he thought of it the girl on his left had been sitting beside Draco until Draco had waved her down to make room for him. He suspected being a half-blood would have had him at the very end of the table if he wasn't famous or if he hadn't already made a positive impression on Draco.

"You already met Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle on the train," Draco reintroduced his minions who merely grunted in greeting across the table, "On your left is Pansy Parkinson and her best friend Daphne Greengrass next to her. Across from Pansy is Theodore Nott, next to him is Millicent Bulstrode. And the two on the end are Tracy Davis and Lily Moon."

He said the last names dismissively making it clear that they were on the bottom of the hierarchy barely worth the introduction. He made note of everyone as they were introduced as well as the order they were introduced in. He nodded politely to each of them as a snub could be catastrophic in politics from what he had read in his etiquette books. For those who followed wizarding traditions it was important to make a good first impression as it would set the tone for all of your meetings after.

"Everyone, this is Hadrian Potter," Draco then introduced him to the others which would then allow them to make conversation with him.

"So, Hadrian, where have you been for the last eleven years?" Pansy asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Abroad," he said simply.

"Anywhere we'd know?" Daphne asked.

"My people are very reclusive, I doubt you would have ever heard of them," unless they had read books older than seven hundred.

"A pity, what about how you survived your mother dying?" Pansy prodded.

"I'm afraid no one ever said," he told her growing annoyed by all the questions he couldn't or wouldn't answer, "I imagine the method is kept secret for a reason. It would be terrible if just anyone could go around stealing babies from the womb."

Her face paled a little as she nodded, "Agreed. Let's talk about something else."

While they were speaking the empty trays on the table had filled with food. All of the foods presented were healthy choices, meats and vegetables, there were only a couple of dishes that could be considered desserts. Knowing better than to just eat sweets he piled some roast chicken and carrots onto his plate. Filling his plate seemed to be enough to stop any of the others from questioning him themselves for now. Pansy instead turned her attention to Theodore.

"Theo, I was surprised that Blaise wasn't here," she fished.

"Oh, Didn't you hea r, his mother got married again, an American this time. Blaise is starting at Ilvermorny though once his mother has taken care of his new step father he'll probably transfer to Hogwarts," he recognized Theodore as the solemn boy who had shared his boat.

Pansy scowled at the boy, "I can hardly be expected to keep track of all his mother's husbands."

The rest of the feast passed in relative silence for him as the first years gossipped about mutual acquaintances in the different houses. They spoke quietly to one another as did the older students further down the table. He assumed it was because Slytherin was traditionally the home of witches and wizards who took their traditions and etiquette seriously. He expected it to be quite different when they were in there own common room.

He took the time to make more mental notes on the teachers seated at the front of the while he ate. He noticed a lot of them kept glancing at him with confused expressions like they weren't entirely sure what to make of him. Considering none of them had ever met him before he found it rather presumptuous of them to think they would know him or decide how his personality should be. The Headmaster looked particularly disappointed. Of all the teachers the one that stood out most was a professor with greasy black hair who was openly sneering at him with distaste. The teacher next to him kept glancing in his direction speculatively which made him worry that the mans irrationality might be catching. He didn't need to start the school year with all the teachers hating him again.

After about an hour the food disappeared from the table leaving the trays empty and gleaming as though they hadn't just had piles food on them. Dumbledore rose to his feet once again opening his arms in a gesture of welcome. Once everyone noticed him the Great Hall fell silent as they waited for him to speak.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," he paused to ensure they were all paying attention, "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore glanced in the direction of the Weasley twins who were doing their best to pretend innocence. He didn't think they were very convincing considering the wide smiles splitting their faces.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death," Dumbledore finished gravely.

"My Father will hear about this," Draco confided quietly, "Whatever is so dangerous about that floor was kept from the governors, Dumbledore as Headmaster needs to run all decisions regarding the running of the school by them before he can act on it. If there was structural damage the governors would be the ones who would need to hire someone for repairs."

He wondered if the third floor being off limits had anything to do with the stone he had liberated from Hagrid's pocket. If so he had to wonder why Dumbledore would pretend he still had it especially if it made parts of the school dangerous to the students. He glanced over at the hufflepuff table and caught Gaara's eye. He would need to find the time to speak to him soon. Gaara was still the only one who knew about the stone apart from him. He was also the only one he trusted with the secret of it.

"And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" Dumbledore finished.

With a large clatter all of the upper years began to file out of the Great Hall except for one in each house. A pretty brunette girl headed toward where the first years were sitting with a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Gemma Farley, your fifth year prefect. Follow me to the common room," she said cheerfully.

They followed her out of the great hall behind the first years from the other houses. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor took the staircase leading to the upper levels of the school. They headed toward the shadowed staircase next to it. He could see the Hufflepuffs ahead of them already making their way down the stairs. They followed the Hufflepuff first years down one floor but then they veered off toward their common room. The Slytherin first years were led down two more flights of stairs before they turned down a side corridor.

"The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, make sure you pay attention because it can be like a maze down here if you don't know where you're going," Gemma advised them.

As they walked he noticed the there were small snake carvings a few inches above where the floor met the wall. He followed the snake carvings until Gemma stopped in front of a blank wall. He glanced beyond the group but couldn't see any more of the snake carvings continuing further into the dungeons. He concluded that they were there to help the Slytherins find their way to the common room without getting lost.

"The password is 'Boomslang Skin'," as Gemma spoke the password the wall slid open to reveal the way into the common room.

There was a short hallway that led to the main room. The common room was a long low room that looked like it had been carved from the rock of the mountain. There was a large window that started halfway up the far wall then curved up into the ceiling which due to the late hour showed nothing beyond an inky blackness. Plush carpets and finely carved green upholstered furniture made the otherwise cold room feel cozy along with the large carved fireplace that had a fire warming the room. Aside from the fire the only light came from lanterns hanging from the ceiling over a row of finely made wooden tables, likely there for homework, which all had green glass. Bookshelves lined the wall beside the tables so the students wouldn't need to run to the library constantly to complete their homework. They were all gathered in a small open space just in front of the hallway.

Gemma turned to all of them with a smile that seemed sharper than the one they received in the Great Hall, "Now, I know you are all tired but there are a few things we need to get out of the way before you go to bed."

She glanced around to make sure that she had their attention, "First, Slytherins present a united front to the rest of the school. Outside of the common room we all get along. We support each other if an argument breaks out between us and another house no matter who is in the right. If you have a problem with one of our house mates it stays in the common room. The rest of the school is against us, they will not come to our aide so we must stick together."

She glared at all of them until they all nodded their understanding. It was clear that they accepted their status in the school hierarchy. He intended to change that so he wouldn't have to watch his back constantly while around the other houses. He hoped that the other first years at least would be willing to work with him to change the perception the rest of the school had of Slytherin house.

"That being said, if you have an issue with a fellow Slytherin there is a duelling chamber through the door to my left. All duels must be declared in the common room and supervised by either a seventh year student, a prefect, or Professor Snape, who is our head of house. To the right is the notice board, check it daily for updates on things you need to know. The last two doors at the back lead to the boys' dormitory on the left and the girls' dormitory on the right. Each Year has their own rooms and shared bathroom. On the wall behind me there is a portrait of our founder Salazar Slytherin. He doesn't speak to students so don't bother him. Good-luck and welcome to Slytherin."

"I'm going to bed," Pansy announced barely holding back a yawn, before flouncing toward the girls dorms.

The other girls trailed after Pansy once they said their own good nights to the boys. He needed to decide if it was more important to have a wall at his back or quick access to the door. In the end he decided to try for a bed near the wall as he was confident he could fight his way out of the room if need be but anyone seeking to cause mischief would have to get past all the other boys before they could get to him.

He followed the other boys to the door on the left. A long hallway greeted them with seven doors spaced evenly along it. A silver plate on each of the doors noted the year group assigned to each room. The first years were the last door at the end of the hall farthest from the common room.

At the far end of the room was another window with thick velvet curtains to block out the morning sun. Beds lined either side of the room each with a bedside table, a wardrobe tall enough to fit wizard robes so they wouldn't crease, and a large chest at the bottom of their beds where extra blankets and pillows were stored. He imagined come winter he would be grateful to have extra close to hand. Only the two beds closest to the window and farthest from the door were available. He took the one next to Crabbe while Malfoy took the one next to Goyle.

Since they had already said their good nights in the common room he watched as everyone changed into their pyjamas before closing the curtains on their beds to sleep. He pulled out his own trunk from his pocket. With a tap of his wand he unshrunk the trunk and pulled out a pair of light blue pyjamas. He changed quickly putting his dirty clothes in the chute on the wall labelled laundry. He hung up his uniform robes in the wardrobe next to his bed. He relocked his trunk shrinking it so he could put it in the chest pocket of his pyjamas. Crawling into the bed he closed the curtains. He tucked his wand along with a few kunai under his pillow and laid on his stomach so no one could steal his trunk while he slept.


	6. Chapter 6

His eyes snapped open as a soft pop echoed in the previously dead quiet of the dorm room. The curtains on the bed had a built in silencing ward which he had purposely left inactive. It was important to him to continue following the instincts instilled in him since he began training as a shinobi. He slept lightly so he could wake up quickly if even the slightest change occurred in the environment around him. If anyone was going to attack him, he would make sure he could hear them coming so he could be ready to defend himself.

He really wanted to believe the best of the untrained eleven year olds he now lived with, but he knew better than to underestimate them due to their age. After all, shinobi were trained beginning at age seven and ending at age ten. He was more deadly at age eleven than any civilian adult. Given the cycle of war between light and dark magic practitioners in the wizarding world, there was no reason to assume that none of the others were capable of murder. He didn't know their belief systems beyond what had been written in books. He was missing the knowedge passed down verbally through the generations. Therefore, he would give them benefit of the doubt but not let his guard down.

He heard the sound of Draco's trunk being opened across the room. His first thought was that it was one of the other boys even though he hadn't hear the curtains being opened. He felt fully justified in his decision to sleep with his trunk in his pocket now that he knew there was such dishonesty present at Hogwarts. The thief wasn't looking in his trunk but that didn't mean anything. If anyone came to suspect he had the stone then they could look in his trunk all they wanted and never find it. He had the stone protected in a password protected compartment. The thief would need to be able to speak parsletongue as well as guess the password.

At some point during the night he had rolled onto his back. Carefully, he took the chance to roll over onto his stomach making sure the pocket that held his trunk was safely underneath him. His skin stung where it was pinched by the trunk. He was more than willing to ignore the slight discomfort in favour of security. His hand wrapped around one of the kunai hidden under his pillow just in case whoever had broken into their room was hostile toward him.

After a few minutes the sound of Draco's trunk being closed echoed in the silenced room. Soft footsteps that seemed to belong to someone the size of a toddler, or a house elf, approached his bed. He heard his wardrobe being opened, the bedside table being searched, and his curtains shifting. He opened his eyes just enough to see through his eyelashes so he could see what was happening even as his hand tightened further around his weapon. What he assumed to be a Hogwarts house elf bent down to look under his bed before closing his curtains completely. He isn't able to hear the soft pop when it leaves because the silencing wards engaged when the curtains fully closed. He can't risk leaving his bed now until morning.

He rolled onto his back, relieved that his trunk was no longer digging into the skin of his chest. The school wanted to search his belongings. He had a sinking feeling that the beginning of his school year would be terrible because there was no way that he was letting anyone inside his trunk. It was a matter of principle. His privacy was something that should be respected. He was sure there were wards of some kind that prevented dangerous magical items from being brought into the school. They were mentioned in Hogwarts: A History and he can't imagine any headmaster being so stupid as to disable them.

Unable to fall back asleep he nudged the curtains open a crack so that he could hear anything else that may happen in the room. With nothing better to do he opens his trunk. He gets out his school books. He also takes out his expanded featherlight bag that has most of his school supplies inside it already so he doesn't need to come back to the dorm between classes. He shrinks the trunk again before putting it back in his pocket. Even though he's read the book before he settles in to read it again until morning casting a lumos so he will be able to properly see.

With a yawn he closed his book as the sound of curtains being drawn reached him. He glanced to the left noticing that it was Theodore. He hadn't fully decided what he thought about the boy. He was serious enough that it was likely he knew more than he should at his age. Whether that meant he was a threat or not was an issue for later after he had gathered more information.

He climbed out of bed heading to the bathroom with the clothes he had taken out of his trunk the night before. He nodded to Theo on his way to their shared bathroom. There was no reason not to be friendly until he made his decision on the boy's threat level. He even threw in a small smile in an effort to appear more personable.

Inside the bathroom there was a large shared bathtub taking up the entire back corner of the room made of dark green marble with silver faucets. The shower stalls lined the back wall next to the bath. Two toilet stalls next to urinals were on the right side of the room. On the wall next to the door was a row of counters with mirrors above them and then two full length mirrors at the end right beside the door so the students could make sure they were presentable from head to toe before leaving the bathroom. In the centre of the room was a circle of sinks with a towel warming rack facing the showers. Even with the five of them the bathroom was large enough that no one would have to worry about being in each other's way.

He went into one of the shower stalls making sure that he locked the door. It was unfortunate that he wouldn't be able to use the bath but with the tattooed seal on his stomach visible he couldn't risk one of the other boys walking in. He sighed as he went about getting ready for his day. Most of the scars littering his body could be explained away as being a particularly rambunctious scamp of a child. The tattoo had no explanation he could think of.

As he went finished his morning routine, Draco and his goons shuffled into the room to begin their day as well. He debated waiting for Draco but he was already done so their really wasn't much point. He left the dorm to see if anyone was in the common room yet. He was surprised to see the hook-nosed teacher who had spent the feast sneering at him waiting in the common room. He sighed as the teacher's eyes fixated on him.

The man's face was completely blank as he waited in the common room. As he approached the Professor moved to intercept him making sure he had no chance to escape had he been planning on doing so. He kept a polite smile on his face as he stopped in front of the Professor. The Professor sneered at him.

"Mr. Potter, you will come with me," the teacher said walking out of the common room without looking back.

The man's robes floated behind him dramatically as he led the way to an unknown destination. He paid attention to the route they were taking and realized it was the same path they had followed from the Great Hall the night before. They stopped at a door he remembered as one of only three doors down that hallway. On the door was a silver plaque with the words:

Office of Professor S. Snape

(Potions Master)

Head of Slytherin House

He followed Professor Snape into his office keeping his nerves from showing on his face. The room held plush chairs in front of a large fireplace along the wall. A comforting fire was already burning within the hearth as the only source of light in the room. At the far end was a desk carved with lifelike snakes along the edges and legs of the desk. The desk was a dark wood that in the dimly lit room looked black. In front of it was a trio of uncomfortable looking wooden chairs.

Professor Snape took a seat behind the desk looking at him like he was something he had scraped off the bottom of his shoe. He felt his face blank as he was strongly reminded that through no fault of his own this person had already decided that they disliked him. Much like the villagers in the hidden leaf he doubted he would be able to change his mind. No matter how good he behaved once hatred had taken root it was very difficult to change.

He took a seat in one of the uncomfortable looking chairs set up in front of the desk for students. He was surprised that they were more comfortable than they looked. They were probably charmed to be at least decently comfortable. He sat quietly waiting for the Professor to speak first. He was pretty sure Snape was also expecting him to ask what he wanted because they sat quietly staring at each other for almost five minutes before the man's face shifted into an obvious look of disdain.

"You are required to present your trunk for inspection," Snape told him cutting right to the point.

"I am afraid I cannot do that," he meant it too.

"Mr. Potter this is not a request. I require you to bring me your trunk," the Professor said, sneer deepening.

He folded his hands politely in his lap while keeping his tone of voice as even as possible, "I have read Hogwarts: A History, I have read the Hogwarts Charter as well as the rules and regulations of Hogwarts as set by the board of governors. I am under no obligation to give you my trunk so that you can go through my private property. If I had anything dangerous inside my trunk the wards would have prevented my trunk from entering the school. Apart from that, was there anything else you needed?"

"What are you hiding?" Professor Snape snapped.

"Nothing, I simply value my privacy," he said with a polite smile.

He stood from the chair turning to leave the room. He was stopped by the sound of the Professor standing as well. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the blank face of his Professor.

"You are just like your Father. A spoiled, insolent, brat," the Professor sneered, "You are dismissed."

He clenched his hands into fists the only reaction he was willing to show. He had broken no rules. He had done his homework, used the rules to his advantage to gain what he wanted, he behaved in an admirably Slytherin way. He didn't expect someone who hated him to praise him but to call him names was not appropriate behaviour toward a student. Refusing to acknowledge the man further he left the room heading back to the common room. He figured Draco was probably ready to go to breakfast by then.

As he entered the common room he lingered in the shadows of the entrance hallway. He had noticed that Draco and the other first years were speaking quietly together. He was curious about what they could be saying. If he was honest, he was worried that they were talking about him. They kept their heads close while glancing around every so often. Such suspicious behaviour required further investigation. He directed his chakra to his ears enhancing his hearing temporarily so that he could hear their conversation even from a distance.

"He'll ruin your position Draco," Pansy whispered earnestly to the blond, "He's a half-blood."

"You've barely spoken to him, he was the one who came up with the idea that allowed me to sneak my broom into the castle," Draco responded.

"One sneaky idea doesn't mean anything," she whispered back fiercely, "He survived the night the Dark Lord died through unknown means. Most of Slytherin is related to at least one Death Eater. He is our enemy, the upper year students will not look kindly on you allying yourself with him."

"Personally, I wouldn't want to be on the upper years' bad side. It would make our life much more difficult," Daphne concurred with Pansy.

"What would your father think?" Theodore added quietly, "It was because of Potter that your family was almost ruined. How do you think it looks if you decide to be friends with him?"

"Not to mention no one knows where he's been the last eleven years. In fact no one knows anything about him," Daphne confirmed.

"Fine," Draco conceded, "I accept your opinions. But, I do not believe being friendly with Potter is a disadvantage. It will make things a little more difficult true, but the Dark Lord is dead. Potter lived and is a Slytherin. What do you think that means?"

"You think he will be the next Dark Lord," Pansy snorted.

"Maybe not, but I think we should find out," Draco's voice remained firm.

"Fine, we'll follow your lead for now but one wrong move and Potter is out," Theodore said as the others nodded their agreement.

"We should start by finding out where he stands with regards to muggles," Daphne advised.

Draco looked around the common room but didn't see Hadrian anywhere, "Where is he anyway?"

"If you're looking for Potter, he was pulled aside by Professor Snape earlier," an older student sitting by the couches advised.

"Thanks," Draco said to the older student.

"He probably just went ahead to breakfast then," Pansy advised.

As a group the first years headed toward the entrance to the common room. He wasn't ready to be discovered by them yet. He pushed chakra into his legs and feet to hurry out of the common room before they could see him. He ran in the opposite direction of the Great Hall to avoid being caught using Shinobi skills by the other students. He ducked down the first hallway to branch off needing to consider his next move carefully. He sunk down into a crouch.

It seemed like the teachers had taken an unhealthy interest in his personal belongings. That worried him because he didn't know the motivation behind the interest. He highly doubted that it was just because he survived given that it was highly unlikely that information was sitting around in his trunk. He knew that the stone was safe in the password protected compartment and that not handing over his trunk to be searched made him more suspicious but he had a lot of shinobi weapons in the larger less secure compartments that he couldn't let them find. He was actually surprised that he hadn't set off any wards given how dangerous kunai and shuriken were in the hands of a trained shinobi. Luckily, the wards were specific to dangerous magic which he had checked before packing his weapons. He didn't just have his weapons either, he also had the weapons that Gaara had brought because his trunk was better protected.

Which reminded him, he needed to return Gaaras weapons to him at some point as well. Then there was the fact that apart from the interest in his belongings Snape seemed to hate him for no reason which would make life harder for him because Snape was both a Professor and his Head of House. It meant he would not be able to rely on any would also be difficult to make any moves of his own. With regards to the teachers he would simply need to respond to their moves as they made them and hope he wouldn't give anything too troublesome away.

Even Sirius was a big question mark now that he had been sorted Slytherin. He would need to get his opinion on his sorting sooner rather than later just in case it made his life more difficult.

Then to top it all off he now had to worry about the other Slytherin students. With a sigh he could admit to feeling hurt by Draco. He had let himself hope for a friend who would be on his side. Though Draco had argued in favour of befriending him, he did also agree to abandon their budding friendship at the first sign of trouble. When he had originally decided to come to the wizarding world he had simply wanted to secure his financial future, but once he discovered that was only possible through going to school again he had been determined to have an experience that was different to the one he had at the shinobi academy.

Standing up he decided to pretend that he hadn't heard their conversation when he was around the other first years. He would continue to be friendly toward them, but he wouldn't make the mistake of trusting them.


	7. Chapter 7

As he arrived in the Great Hall he scanned the Hufflepuff table for Gaara. Considering how Gaara had spent the summer he hoped that the other Hufflepuffs had managed to get him to wake up for breakfast. He wanted to speak to him before classes began. Finally seeing him, he quickly made his way over to where he was sitting. He sat down next to him on the bench since it happened to be free for the moment. He kept his back to the rest of the table because he had no intentions of staying longer than it would take for him to say what he wanted to.

"Good morning, Gaara," he greeted with a small smile.

"Good morning," Gaara yawned as he spoke.

It brought a smile to his face, "I wanted to figure out a time we can talk in private."

He was drawing curious looks from the other students because he wasn't sitting at his house table. He did his best to ignore the stares he was receiving but couldn't help noticing that several gazes were filled with suspicion. Gaara pulled out his schedule from his bag. He wondered briefly when it had been given to him and when he would be getting his own schedule.

"We have afternoon classes with Slytherin today. We can meet after lunch before classes begin," Gaara told him.

"Perfect. I have some things I would like to discuss with you," he lowered his voice aware of the curious listening ears being directed their way.

"Are you happy with your house? I have heard some things," Gaara asked concerned.

"You shouldn't take what you heard as truth but I wouldn't completely discount it either," he smiled, "We'll talk after lunch."

With a soft sigh he got up from the bench. He waved to Gaara as he made his way toward the Slytherin table taking the open seat next to Draco. He smiled at the other first years as he began putting food onto his plate.

"Why were you talking to a Hufflepuff?" Daphne asked disdainfully from next to Pansy.

He shrugged, "I needed to ask him something."

"Really? How do you know each other?" she pushed.

"I don't see why that matters," he snapped starting to get a little angry.

He knew they were fishing for information. The conversation he had heard earlier made it clear they didn't trust him. He also knew they hated being in the dark about his past. But if they thought for even one moment he would give up all of his secrets just because they pushed at him then they would soon learn how mistaken they were. If there was one thing he considered himself a natural talent at it was lying. Sensing that he was getting ready to walk out Draco stepped in to salvage the situation.

"What did Professor Snape want to talk to you about?" Draco asked between bites of his own breakfast, "We heard he called you to his office this morning."

"Nothing important," he waved his hand as though swatting the question aside then smiled as he changed the subject again, "Are you ready for the first day of classes?"

A shadow fell on the group as Snape arrived. He handed out their schedules silently making it clear he was not open to being asked questions or making polite conversation. His face was perfectly smooth until he got to him, them it turned into a slight sneer. He took his schedule quickly hoping no one else noticed. He didn't sneer or scowl at anyone else but he didn't smile at any of them either. They all took their schedules with muttered thank-yous. Once Snape had left the area he turned his attention to his schedule. After reading over the timetable he couldn't help but groan at the first class.

"Herbology, I don't want to dig in the dirt," Pansy said looking horrified at the prospect.

Her eyes sought Daphne's as they shared a look of complete empathy and loathing. They didn't have time between classes to wash up before charms either so they would have to go to class sweaty and dirty. The only comfort was that the Ravenclaws were also in their charms class so they would be in the exact same situation. He wondered if he could send a shadow clone to the morning classes in his place. It would mean he didn't have to waste a portion of his lunch on a second shower because the dirt would vanish with the clone. It was definitely something for him to consider.

"We'll have to miss part of lunch," Gregory said unhappily adding a little more food to his plate.

"I don't care if I'm covered in dirt all day. I'm going to eat lunch first," Vincent said also adding a bit more food to his plate.

"I bet the Gryffindors get Herbology at the end of the day," Daphne sniffed, "It's a fact that he always favours them because he was a Gryffindor while he was in school."

"Dumbledore should just retire before he drags the school down any further," Pansy agreed with venom in her voice.

"How do you know he favours them, we're only first years and this is the first day of classes," he said watching as the windows were darkened by mail owls.

"Oh, Dumbledore's prejudice is well known. He's been Headmaster since before most of our parents went to Hogwarts. Trust me, my Father told me all about it," Draco advised.

"I think I will form my own conclusions based on the evidence I find myself," he told them, "But your opinions are noted."

He had been let down by everyone he had ever known. There was truly no way to get around that fact easily. He knew that he would always have trouble trusting others. After the conversation he had overheard earlier in the common room he wasn't willing to trust the other Slytherins not to lead him astray. He figured they were probably right but he couldn't afford to get stuck only seeing one side of the full picture. He had to draw his conclusions from the actions he himself witnessed or he could end up being led around like a dog by the whims of others.

He shielded his plate just in time as several owls landed on the table around him bringing letters and the morning paper to several students. Hedwig was not among the owls but he hadn't really expected a response to his letter so soon. He saw Draco toss his paper aside in favour of a letter.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked gesturing toward the discarded paper.

"Draco glanced at him briefly before shrugging, "I don't care."

"Looking for anything specific?" Pansy fished for information.

He raised his eyebrow before responding, "Not particularly."

He skimmed through most of the paper getting a feel for where the wizarding world stood as far as what information they deemed important enough to write about. Books gave him an excellent overview of the culture but the paper would help him to figure out the more subtle nuances the books couldn't provide.

He turned to the section of the paper that covered crimes curious to see what the worst of the wizarding world population got up to. It was important to know who might cause trouble for him one day. He also was curious about how auror's solved crimes given he knew of at least one investigation that they completely screwed up. The case of his Father was not a sore point as he had never even known he had a living Father until he arrived in the wizarding world, but it was a large source of useless 'what ifs' that he wished he could stop thinking about.

He skimmed a small number of articles concerning petty theft and minor infractions of the law. The only thing vaguely interesting was an attempted, and failed, break in at Gringotts which was several months old with apparently no progress being made at all toward figuring out who the thief was. Just from one section of the paper he could draw the conclusion that law enforcement in the magical community was inept probably because they didn't really have much serious crime, unless a Dark Lord showed up, but even then they were so inept that the general public was left to defend themselves through the creation of vigilante groups. It was truly pathetic but would be to his advantage if he ever put his shinobi skills to use.

"Is Gringotts the only bank wizards have?" he asked the table at large.

"Why?" Draco replied confused.

"It says they were broken into. It doesn't seem very secure to me, plus my trust fund is there," he said with a concerned tone.

"Yeah, it was pretty big news over the summer that they got broken into. Most people wouldn't dare, I heard some of the deeper vaults are guarded by Dragons," Theodore said.

Pansy laughed, "It wasn't interesting at all, there wasn't even anything in the vault they tried to rob."

"What's interesting to them is who the vault belonged to," Theodore snapped back.

"Oh, who did it belong to?" he asked curious why anyone who was important would have a vault without any money in it.

"Nicolas Flamel," Theodore puffed up importantly.

He recalled that the vault Hagrid visited had been emptied over the summer. People didn't just keep money in Gringotts. He felt that Flamel could be a lead but the vault number wasn't mentioned in the little blurb of an article. He supposed there could be a large number of empty vaults in Gringotts waiting for new clients as well. He didn't want to appear too curious about the article as it would only highlight how ignorant he still was about somethings as everyone else seemed to know who Flamel was already. He also didn't want to raise anyone's suspicions if it did turn out to be the vault Hagrid had emptied. Being overly curious might draw attention he didn't want especially because he refused to have his trunk searched.

He was saved from having to continue the conversation by Hedwig landing next to his plate. She snatched a couple pieces of bacon as he pulled the letter from her foot. He absently pet her feathers as he read over the response to his letter. A smirk growing on his face the longer he read. The response to his enquiry regarding stories written about him without his knowledge was favourable. It looked like he was about to make himself a nice sum of galleons that weren't tied up in a trust controlled by his mother's will.

Since Hedwig was here anyway, he decided to write a new letter. This time he decided to write to his Father. The prophet had reminded him that he had yet to make contact with the man. He sent a politely worded interrogation to his Father with a spare quill and ink secured inside the parchment so he could write back if he could. It was important for him to determine if James Potter was worth the risk. He knew where Pettigrew was but not whether he should turn him in. After all, it was quite likely that his Father would hold the same prejudices against Slytherin as his best friend did. He didn't want to risk being disowned twice.

"Who'd you write to?" Daphne asked him.

"My guardian, I needed to let him know where Gaara and I were sorted," he lied flawlessly.

She hummed thoughtfully but didn't ask any more questions.

"I'm going to go to the washroom before it's time for class. I'll meet you in the entrance hall?" he stood and waited until Draco nodded before leaving.

He made his way to the boys' washroom on the first floor where he locked himself in a stall. He decided to create a shadow clone that would go to his morning classes in his stead. Hopefully, he could save time not having to take a shower before eating lunch. He could use the time he saved to get to History of Magic early so he would have time to speak to Gaara before the class started.

He gave his shadow clone his bag in case he needed to take notes. His wand was in his pocket so the clone should have a duplicate wand with him. He would have felt weird without it while he waited for his classes to end. He sent his clone away while he stayed in the stall to wait for the bell that classes were starting. Once the halls were empty he would be free to make his way back to the dorms and take a nap or something.


	8. Chapter 8

He passed the morning quietly in the dorm room reading his books. He had gotten a few interest books but had already read them before school began. For now he was reading the prank book Sirius had encouraged him to buy simply because he hadn't bothered to read it in any depth over the summer. He would need to visit the library soon to avoid growing bored.

After the bell signalling the beginning of lunch rang he hurried into the shared bathroom and took the stall farthest from the doors. He waited in silence as he listened to Draco and Theodore complain about how tiring an hour of gardening was and the barbarity of denying them a shower right away when the class was over as they also entered the bathroom. He could hear his clone humming an agreement every so often but overall sounding rather bored. The fact they had to spend another hour while sweaty and dirt covered seemed to be unforgivable according to their rich heir sensibilities.

He had been training to be a shinobi since he was seven which meant a lot of outdoor classes in the forests training survival skills. He felt very strongly that wizards were for the most part too soft. Though he could admit he was uncomfortable about other people's filth. Natural dirt and grim were fine but other people's sweat or spit was more than uncomfortable.

Once he heard the other showers turn on the clone entered his stall and promptly disappeared. He dampened his hair under the spray from the shower as he waited for the clone's memories to assimilate with his own memories of the morning. With a sinking feeling he realized that the complaining about herbology in the morning had been going on for the last several hours with no sign of stopping. With a sigh he deemed himself sufficiently dampened and headed back into the dorm definitely not waiting for the others to finish their own showers.

His bag was dropped on the bed by his clone before he followed everyone into the showers. He was lucky that all the boys were taking a shower together as it meant they would all just assume he had finished his shower first. The dampness of his hair which he knew took a long time to dry would further disguise the fact he hadn't showered. The last thing he needed was more probing questions from the other Slytherins. He was a bit worried that they would mind him not waiting for them but he had agreed to meet Gaara before History of Magic that morning.

He hurried from the dorm making his way toward the Great Hall following the helpful snake carvings so he wouldn't lose time even though he was fairly confident he had the route memorized. He would need to eat quickly so he and Gaara could have as much time as possible to talk before class started. He saw Gaara enter the Great Hall ahead of him with a group of other Hufflepuffs surrounding him. At least one of them was definitely getting along with their housemates.

The Great Hall was just starting to fill up with students as he sat down. He hated that the unspoken hierarchy of Slytherin made him eat from the end of the table furthest from the doors. True to their word Vincent and Gregory had forgone a shower in favour of eating lunch. He nodded at them as he sat down but made no effort to speak to them. They were focused on lunch and barely acknowledged his presence. He quickly ate a couple of sandwiches the house elves had prepared. After he had finished he caught Gaara's eye as he left the great hall. He lurked in a shadowed corner next to the stairs that led to the higher levels of the castle. He was out of view of the stairs that led to the dungeons so he wouldn't have to worry about the other Slytherins seeing him leaning against the wall when they eventually made it to lunch themselves.

About five minutes later Gaara emerged alone from the Great Hall. He waved to get his attention as he made his way from the corner to the foot of the stairs. They started walking together but he let Gaara take the lead a bit as he didn't actually have any idea where History of Magic was. He glanced around subtly to make sure they weren't drawing any attention on their way to the classroom.

When they arrived the room was empty so they could sit anywhere they wanted. All the other students would still be enjoying their lunches. They made their way to the pair of desks in the back corner of the classroom next to the windows in order to give themselves privacy when the other students began to arrive from lunch. He took the seat furthest in the corner leaving Gaara as a buffer between him and the other desks. He also liked the idea of having walls at his back so he wouldn't need to worry about anyone appearing from his blind spots.

They sat in silence for a few moments pulling out their text book and note taking supplies so they'd be ready for when the class started. He figured it was probably up to him to begin the conversation given he was the one who had requested they speak alone. Faced with beginning the conversation however he found himself not knowing how to start, so he went for classic small talk.

"How was your first night in Hufflepuff?" he asked Gaara resting his head on his hand as he looked over at his friend.

The small talk felt awkward but Gaara didn't seem to mind.

"Friendly," Gaara had a small smile on his face.

"I'm glad for you," he said honestly.

Gaara frowned at him, "You aren't happy with Slytherin? I thought it was the house you wanted to be in."

Perhaps he had been a bit too honest if Gaara was able to pick up on his insecurities so easily from his expression.

"It is the house I want to be in, but I think I might have overestimated the," he paused trying to find the right word but unable to, "They are a clique, they have history that I do not share. I can't tell them about where we come from either which prevents them from being able to trust me. Allies without trust between them are a failed mission waiting to happen."

Gaara nodded his understanding looking thoughtful. Hufflepuff from the outside seemed like a house filled with the types of people who would respect Gaara's privacy. He would be able to make friends without needing to divulge too much of his past. It also helped that unlike him Gaara was unknown and there was no reason for anyone to demand answers about his past. There were likely several muggleborns in Hufflepuff who were just as unknown to the magic raised children as he was.

"My housemates won't push or demand answers but I don't want our history hanging over any new friendships that I make. We should decide how much we are willing to tell those who ask," Gaara offered.

He sighed in relief, "Thank you."

"It's fine for me whatever we tell others. I don't intend to ever go back but I also wouldn't want to be responsible for ending the secrecy of the elemental nations. It wouldn't just effect the shinobi but also all of the civilians," Gaara explained.

"I suppose we could present the elemental nations and shinobi way of life as a version of the Statute of Secrecy. We tell them we are from a reclusive country but don't tell them anything too specific that they could use to find it. They could probably understand that without trying to dig further given how familiar they are with the wizarding world's need for secrecy," he felt they would have to be complete hypocrites to push further.

"It isn't like we know where the elemental nations are in relation to here anyway," Gaara pointed out.

He laughed because that was true. Even if he wanted to he couldn't tell anyone exactly where he was from due to the fact they had arrived by port key rather than over land.

"That is true. Did anyone try to search your trunk last night?" he asked changing the topic.

"No, I've kept it in my pocket so no one would ask questions about all the sand inside," Gaara told him, "Why?"

He told Gaara about his earlier conversation with Snape where he had all but demanded to search his trunk, "Of course I didn't let him because I know about the wards preventing dangerous magical artifacts. It would be a huge invasion of my privacy. I checked before we came to Hogwarts, there is no rule anywhere that says I have to have my trunk searched."

He hadn't realized he was so angry about the whole conversation until he recounted it to Gaara.

"You said your head of house didn't ask to search your trunk?" he confirmed.

"No," Gaara confirmed.

So it was only him then. He knew it likely had something to do with his fame. They were probably trying to find out where he was from, what he knew, how best to use him for their own goals. He could feel his anger like poison in his brain spreading to infect his thoughts. He had to try to remember that not everyone was against him even if it sometimes felt that way.

"I was surprised to see you eating lunch alone," Gaara changed the topic, knocking him from his brooding.

"Really?" he played dumb.

"You said they weren't able to trust you, what made you think that?" Gaara pressed.

He sighed, "Can we just not talk about it?"

"No," Gaara's tone was firm allowing for no argument.

He sighed again but told Gaara all about the conversation he had overheard earlier. Gaara's face stayed calm beneath his shinobi mask taking in the information. He knew when Gaara did respond he would have a well thought out comment. Once he had recounted the whole conversation in detail he waited to hear what Gaara would think of it. Gaara's opinion was one of the only opinions that mattered to him almost as much as his own did.

"I think our agreement regarding how much we are willing to share will help to ease some of the tensions but your avoidance of your housemates at lunch today has probably made things worse. I imagine if they think anything like you do they will be suspicious of your sudden disappearance. They probably are confused about why you are ditching them, especially Draco, he seems fond of you. They aren't going to like it when they realize you were speaking to another house. You are right when you say that Slytherin is a clique. They are well known for it," Gaara said.

"Were we part of the Hufflepuff welcome speech?" he smiled.

"We were advised to be wary," Gaara said with the same amount of amusement.

He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. It felt like one problem was halfway to being solved which was a nice feeling.

"Do you think you could send a letter to Sirius about the sorting?"

"Why? Don't you have Hedwig?" Gaara eyed him suspiciously.

"Firstly, I know you are just as aware of Sirius' hatred for anything remotely related to Slytherin, so I'm sure he would rather not get the letter from me. Second, Hedwig is busy I wrote to my imprisoned Father to test the waters a bit," he shrugged.

"So, you're afraid of rejection from the first parental figure you've ever had and the most appropriate response you could think of was to avoid him while preparing a plan B?" Gaara summarized bluntly sounding disapproving.

"Better to be safe than sorry," he said with a shrug.

Gaara sighed, "I don't think Sirius will reject you when he just got you back."

"Agree to disagree. Will you write the letter?" he asked.

Gaara slowly and reluctantly nodded his agreement.

"Great," the sound of the classroom door opening as the other students filed in drew his attention.

He was grateful it was just the Hufflepuffs and not the Slytherins or he would have needed to be concerned about them eavesdropping on their conversation. He smiled at the Hufflepuffs as they approached. They seemed to be happy to see Gaara but were unable to hide their weariness of him.

"Hey Gaara," a girl with copper hair smiled as she visibly worked up her courage and took the seat beside Gaara.

"Hello Susan," Gaara greeted her with a small smile, "Have you met Hadrian yet?"

It was obvious she wouldn't have but it was the perfect opportunity to branch out. He had never lied when he talked about how valuable Hufflepuff traits could be in an ally.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," he held out his hand for her to shake.

"Gaara speaks about you, you saved his life?" she asks accepting his hand with a hesitant smile.

He glances at Gaara with his eyebrows raised wondering what he had told them. Gaara had the grace to look embarrassed though he did an admirable job of hiding it under his shinobi mask. How long someone could go on with an insane tanuki keeping them awake constantly was anyones guess so in a way he had saved him from a miserable life if not from death. He just hoped he was keeping the details vague enough to avoid unwanted questions.

"You could say that," he shrugged.

"Either you did or you didn't," a somewhat pompous boy interjected from the seat in front of him.

He glanced at the boy who had held out his hand, "Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Hadrian," he said taking the offered hand, "We were both going through a rough time, I helped him to overcome his problems by telling him about how I overcame mine."

Being abandoned by Kurama still hurt. He could only hope that it was worth it for Kurama because he wasn't sure he could ever forgive him.

The rest of the Slytherins came in and sat on the other side of the room. He noticed their confused looks in his direction but he wasn't going to change his seat. He continued to speak with Gaara and the other Hufflepuffs as the ghost who would be teaching them entered the classroom through the chalkboard.

An hour later he blinked himself awake from the light doze he had been drifting off in. He glanced at Gaara to find him completely asleep next to him. With a small smile he kicked his ankle to wake him up. He woke tensing up for a fight before relaxing as he remembered where they were. He left the classroom with the Hufflepuffs who also shared the next class, transfiguration, with Slytherin.

Transfiguration was challenging but he felt it was worth learning. It was like a longer lasting transformation jutsu that wouldn't break even if it took a hit. If he could use transfiguration to disguise a scroll he was protecting as a rock then even if the enemy got the rock and slammed it onto the ground it wouldn't change back into a scroll. It would give him an advantage because he could collect it later to turn back into a scroll and complete the mission. It would also make him invaluable as no other shinobi could do what he could. Without him the scroll would stay as a rock.

He left the classroom happier than he had been all day. It helped that he was one of the few in the class to make progress turning his match into a needle. It wasn't perfect but he had the colour and shape down, all he needed to work on now was changing it from wood to metal.

He walked with Gaara to the library which was just as he had hoped it would be. Books lining the walls, bookshelves filling the room, tables to study at in large groups or alone. It was great. He couldn't wait to check out books to help him navigate the world of magic more easily. So far transfiguration and, he suspected, potions were both useful to him as a shinobi. He really wanted to see what other types of magic could be adapted to be used while he was working as a shinobi.

He and Gaara found a quiet table in the back of the library. Since they shared the same classes in the afternoon they got to work on the history and transfiguration homework together which was again mostly just reading for the next class as it was only the first day of classes.

"What do you think about training with me in the mornings?" He asked Gaara as he came back with a stack of books that seemed interesting since he had already read all of his textbooks.

"I'm not going back to the elemental nations," Gaara told him firmly.

He met Gaara's eyes to convey his sincerity, "I know, I would never ask you to, but I will and I don't want to be a year or more out of practise when I do."

Gaara nodded his agreement, "Where do you want to meet?"

"Aside from the common room the dungeons are mostly empty. We could probably find an empty room around that would allow us to train in peace."

"I'll meet you at four in the morning at the bottom of the stairs, we can look for a place then," Gaara agreed.

"Perfect," he said passing over a copied alarm spell that would wake them up in the morning.

He also passed over a book on basic warding which would help them find a way to keep people out of whatever room they chose.

He heard voices approaching their corner so he bent back over his books looking like he was busy. He felt Gaara's foot tap against his leg and glanced up to see the other first year Slytherins looking at him strangely. Once they saw him looking they quickly turned around and fled the library. He narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs.

"If they try to stop us studying together for our shared classes I'm not even going to pretend to like them any more," he told Gaara feeling annoyed at his fellow students.

"I don't mind if you invite them to join us when we study," Gaara offered.

He smiled at him putting his books aside to check out, "You can invite your Hufflepuffs too."

He finished packing his stuff away having finished his homework for the day, "I will see you in the morning. For now I need to go talk to some Slytherins."

"See you tomorrow," Gaara said also packing up his things.

He nodded as he left. It was about time for dinner so he decided to make his way to the Great Hall to speak with the other Slytherins.

"Where were you?" Draco asked as soon as he sat down at the table.

"I was in the library, remember? I just saw you all there," he challenged.

"You were with a Hufflepuff," Draco pouted.

He eyed Draco sharply, "I was with Gaara, who has been like a brother to me and that I have known since before I came to this country. If you think I am going to give up a loyal, honest, hardworking friend in order to earn your favour, you thought wrong."

He wanted to make it clear to Draco that he felt strongly on the matter. He didn't want to alienate him completely as he still saw the possibility of friendship developing between them provided they could learn to trust each other. If Draco wanted to confront him about spending time with his other friends in order to prevent him from forming a support network of his own then he would need to give up Draco because in the larger picture he had to surround himself with people he could rely on.

"After I returned from Professor Snape's office this morning. I happened to overhear an interesting conversation taking place right in the middle of the very public common room," he started, "I wonder what makes you think you have the right to question the time I spend with those I consider like family when you aren't even sure my friendship is something you want."

"I do want to be friends but you have to admit it is suspicious that you won't tell anyone about where you're from," Draco defended, "We've all known each other for years while you are a new and unknown variable."

Very well. He could give a little, only the bare minimum as he and Gaara agreed.

"Where I come from trust isn't something that is easy to come by. And you definitely do not ask for it, you earn it. But as you have already asked I will tell you that Wizards are not the only people who keep separate from the rest of the world. My Mother's people, my people, have remained apart for centuries. Our separation predates your statute of secrecy by over a hundred years. That is all you need to know and all I will say on the subject," he let his eyes wander the table seeing it was not just the first years who were listening.

He could see some students looking at him coldly while others had a speculative gleam in their eyes. It made him nervous even though he had not given away anything that could be used to find out about shinobi. It was also true he hadn't successfully endeared the other Slytherins to him. Perhaps it would be the appropriate time to make a statement of power to keep the rest of the house from turning on him or fishing for information, but then second guessed himself. While true that revealing that he is descended from Slytherin would earn him respect maybe even fear it would be shallow. It would not be truly earned or strong enough to withstand plots against him.

He looked back to Draco who cleared his throat awkwardly, "Thank you for telling us what you could."

He nodded his head to acknowledge the truce being offered. The other first years were also looking awkward about their conversation being overheard.

"Did you finish studying with the Hufflepuff?" Daphne sniffed.

He had finished studying but decided to take the opportunity that was being offered, "Only History and Transfiguration."

"Great you can help us then," Pansy said sitting straighter on the bench.

"You know, you can join Gaara and I when we study. He wouldn't mind and the Hufflepuffs are also being invited. It would be a good chance to network," he offered an olive branch of his own.

"We'll consider it," Draco said not looking overly enthused by the offer.

The rest of dinner is mostly quiet but most of the tension had leached out of the group for now but he would still keep his guard up.


	9. Chapter 9

He slipped out of the common room dressed in his duelling robes at a quarter to four in the morning. He had to be careful because students were technically not supposed to be out of the common room before six am.

A couple of weeks had passed since Hogwarts' classes began. He had managed to create a fairly consistent daily routine during that time.

Everyday he started the day by going to morning training with Gaara, which he happened to be on his way to now, in the empty classroom they had found about halfway between their common rooms. They usually trained together for an hour and a half so they could get back to the common rooms before six so he could sneak back into the common room while the other Slytherins still slept. The charmed parchment that Sirius had given him, which he had remembered a few days earlier, was helpful in letting him know if anyone was inside the common room. It had only happened once that someone was there because most Slytherins who woke up early spent a large portion of the morning ensuring their appearance lived up to their exacting standards. The rest of the Slytherins who didn't care as much about appearances took the opportunity to sleep in so they could still go down to breakfast with their more image conscious friends.

He was fortunate that most of his dorm mates tended to be asleep when he would get back at five thirty since morning classes began at nine-thirty and breakfast wasn't served until eight. Though he did worry that Draco would become very image conscious once puberty hit so he was already planning ways around Draco realizing he left the dorm every morning. By the time the other boys woke up he was showered and usually reading over the chapters that their classes would be covering that day. Getting to use the showers while everyone else slept was great for hiding the seal on his stomach which lifted some of the anxiety he had originally had. When the others were finally ready then he would go with them for breakfast and classes. If the class was with Hufflepuff he would sit with Gaara, otherwise he stayed firmly on the Slytherin side of the room which his housemates appreciated. They had only made an exception for Gaara because he had been so adamant about their close connection. It wasn't that he needed their approval but why cause conflict when he didn't need to?

After a few days the rudimentary map had documented all of his main routes to training and classes but he hadn't yet had much desire to explore too far beyond his go to paths. What time he didn't spend training he spent reading ahead. On the days his clone went to herbology he would go to the training room and usually create more shadow clones to practise with alone. He just had to be careful not to use too much chakra or risk dispelling the clone in herbology which meant he mostly stuck to taijutsu on those occasions.

After classes he would meet Gaara, the Hufflepuff first years, and Neville Longbottom in the library for their study group. Neville had ended up as his potions partner. Theodore had called dibs on Draco who was apparently Snape's favourite, then because of the uneven numbers there had to be one group of three and the outlying trio of Slytherin girls (Millicent, Lily, and Tracy) decided to be the group of three, Vincent and Gregory of course paired up leaving him no choice but to pair with the outcast Gryffindor. He didn't actually have a problem with Neville, he was very weak willed which allowed him to be won over fairly quickly. He was also very good at following directions in potions due to his fear of what Snape would do should he make a mistake. Snape still hated him but he made sure to study very well before each class to make sure there was very little Snape could criticize. Mostly the professor just sneered at him while making snide comments that were less about potions and more about what Snape considered his bad breeding. It was appallingly petty for any teacher. If they had been in the Hidden Leaf the man would have been recruited to Anbu and sent on a suicide mission before he was ever let near children, not that he could have ever made it as a shinobi.

After study group he would go to dinner, followed by a study session with the Slytherin first years who still refused to join his after class study group. He and Pansy had even managed to develop a sort of friendship between them. She loved gossip, the Hufflepuffs loved gossip, and he was the bridge between the two keeping her up to date on all the latest news the network had to offer. Even Neville occasionally let slip a bit of Gryffindor drama he could pass on. Overall, after a difficult first day he was now quite pleased with his mostly ordinary school life.

In a few minutes he arrived at the door to the training room. The wards let him through but anyone who was not supposed to be there would have been hit with the strongest stinging hex he was currently able to produce as soon as they touched the door. He knew it wouldn't stop a teacher or any of the upper years but it was there more for the practise in casting wards than actual protection. There was no reason for anyone to be anywhere near the room and if the amount of dust they had needed to clean away was any indication no one had been to the room in centuries so the chances of anyone stumbling across it were very unlikely.

Inside he could already see Gaara waiting for him with tendrils of sand floating around him like a nest of snakes. After they had come to the wizarding world they had discovered that the sand's seeming autonomy was caused by Gaara's accidental magic protecting him. Gaara had been working hard to have his sand controlled subconsciously so he could focus on other things during a fight. Unfortunately for him, Gaara had become quite good at controlling his sand without having to move as his taijutsu was weak and he didn't feel he needed to work on it because he was now a retired shinobi. But having to fight Gaara's sand was helping to keep him in shape so he didn't really complain about it too often.

He opened his mouth to greet Gaara but as soon as Gaara noticed him the sand rushed forward to attack him. Just as he had dodged the first tendril another was taking its place giving him no time to get his bearings or counter attack. It was like he was fighting multiple opponents instead of just one boy. Eventually, one of the tendrils made it past his guard and he was sent crashing into the wall with enough force that anyone who didn't reinforce their bodies with chakra would have likely had some serious internal injuries along side the inevitable broken bones.

"I wasn't ready," he panted as he got to his feet.

"A real enemy wouldn't wait. I will not go easy on you," Gaara told him expressionlessly.

He had taken his role of training partner very seriously. The only reason Gaara was training was for his sake so he couldn't even be mad about how harsh he could be. He figured it was just Gaara's way of worrying about his safety once he was on his own.

"Fine," he agreed making the hand signs for his trump card.

He hadn't really had a chance to practise the adamantine sealing chains since Kurama had abandoned him before the chūnin exams started. His eventual goal was to be able to use the chains similarly to how Gaara used his sand tendrils to fight, though his control wasn't nearly as good as it needed to be yet. Even if he could never get the chains to work like Gaara's sand as long as he was able to get them around his opponent the chains would seal their chakra and movement making it his win. The only problem was that when facing a trained and talented shinobi they could defend against the chains he sent their way so being able to continuously attack with the chains would greatly increase his chances of success.

As he finished the hand signs he felt his chakra surge as the chains burst from his back toward Gaara. He had the satisfaction of seeing Gaara's eyes widen before he managed to dodge the chains. It was close though as he could see a small tear in Gaara's robe sleeve. He had never attempted to use the chains against Gaara before so he was kind of upset that his surprise attack didn't actually succeed. He wouldn't get the element of surprise a second time.

The spar devolved after that as they both fought to win. Gaara met each of his clumsy chain attacks with his sand forcing him to constantly need to dodge sand while trying to control the chains. At five am the alarm spell they had set went off signalling the end of that days training. By the time the alarm sounded they were both panting heavily from their seats on the ground. He had to concede that he had completely lost the spar but felt pretty good about the progress he had made in controlling the chains.

He waited until his breathing settled before attempting to speak, "Have you heard back from Sirius yet?"

He glanced at Gaara who shook his head too tired to use his words.

He felt a nervous twist in his stomach at the idea that he would not be allowed to return to Black Manor when the summer came. With a troubled sigh he pulled himself to his feet.

"I'll see you later," he smiled tiredly at Gaara as he left the training room.

He stepped out of the bathroom just in time for the other Slytherin boys to start waking up.

"How do you manage to get up so early," Draco complained as he passed him on his way into the bathroom.

Draco had horrible bed head in the morning. His hair was so fine that it seemed to float around his head with a mind of its own. He could understand why he put so much gel in his hair to keep it flat even if he privately thought the gelled back hair was just a little less worse.

"I'm not lazy and I go to bed at a decent time unlike some others," he said giving the blond boy a significant look.

With a role of his eyes Draco ignored him in favour of his own shower.

He pulled out one of the books he had taken from the library. He lounged on his bed reading while he waited for the others to get ready to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Over the past two weeks he had come to trust his roommates a little more. He wouldn't allow himself to be blinded by their current friendly behaviour because there was always a chance they would turn on him later. It was easy to be friends during peaceful days. It would be when they were together in a stressful situation that the truth of their friendship would show. It was in a stressful situation, for example, that Sasuke had proven his friendship by putting his life on the line for him even though it would mean giving up his revenge. He wondered if any of the Slytherins were capable of such a thing. He felt his chest tighten as he realized that they probably weren't.

When the others were ready he put his book aside and followed them down to breakfast. They had Herbology first thing so he would have a little time to himself to study his interests. After the training session he'd had that morning he didn't really feel up to a second session with just his clones. He was also worried by how much chakra controlling the chains had used. It was better to be safe and take a day off from his solo training.

"It really isn't fair of them to make us have Herbology as the first lesson of the day," Pansy complained like she did every Monday and Tuesday.

"So you have said, every time we've had Herbology," he said not even looking up from his breakfast.

"Well then, someone should have done something about it by now," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Like what?" Daphne asked from beside her.

"If I knew I wouldn't still be complaining about it," Pansy told her exasperated.

"Have you tried talking to Professor Snape?" Theodore asked from his spot on the other side of Draco.

Pansy scoffed at him, "Why don't you try that and let me know how that works for you."

He was glad to note that he wasn't the only one who saw Snape as an unreasonable, unreliable, untrustworthy, and unhelpful professor. He nodded in agreement with Pansy who smiled at him.

"Maybe I'll ask uncle sev- I mean Professor Snape if there is anything he can do," Draco said importantly.

He wasn't sure whatever relationship Draco had with Snape would be of much use. He didn't think it was Snape who made the schedules but if it made Draco happy to think he was special he wouldn't be the one to ruin it for him.

Just then the sound of hundreds of wings flapping filled the room as the morning mail owls arrived. He saw Hedwig shining white among the flock of dull brown owls. His heart jumped into his throat as he watched her glide toward him. He could feel his pulse pounding as a rush of adrenaline filled his veins. He was beyond grateful that he could read his father's response to his letter in privacy once he had sent the clone to Herbology. He didn't want anyone around if it wasn't the good news he hoped for. With his history it was most likely not good news.

He was very careful not to let anyone see the slight tremble in his hand as he took the letter from Hedwig's leg before feeding her some of the bacon on his plate. He slipped the letter into the inner pocket of his robes to open once he was alone. He glanced over at Gaara to see that he had also gotten a letter. He recognized the owl from when they had been at Black Manor that summer. Once Gaara had taken the letter the bird took a small treat and flew out of the hall. He didn't know what to feel about not getting a letter but he hoped that Gaara's letter wasn't about disowning him. He would need to make time to ask Gaara about the letter. Luckily, they had history of magic and transfiguration together in the afternoon.

He let the conversations of his peers flow around him only half listening until the end of breakfast. As he had just excused himself to go to the toilet to create his clone he was stopped by Snape. The others looked on curiously as the Professor looked at him like it was painful to even have to acknowledge his existence.

"Mr. Potter, you will be meeting with the Headmaster tonight at six o'clock. Do not be late or embarrass Slytherin with your conduct," Snape sneered as he shoved a note in his hand before he swept from the Great Hall with his robes billowing.

"What did you do?" Theodore asked.

He turned his glare on the other boy, "Nothing."

He hurried away before he lost the chance to swap out for his clone. He'd read the letters once he reached the dorms.


	10. Chapter 10

The note from the Headmaster directed him to go to a statue of a gargoyle on the seventh floor that 'liked' ice mice for their meeting later that evening which didn't make much sense to him but then he had already come to the conclusion that the Headmaster was senile. After reading the note he threw it in the bin for the house elves to deal with. He figured the meeting would most likely be just another attempt to get at his trunk anyway.

With shaking hands he pulled out the letter he had really been wanting to read. He laid it on the bed in front of him hearing his pulse in his neck. The parchment that had been pristine when he sent it off was now covered in grime and crinkled with fine lines. He was almost worried he wouldn't actually be able to read what was written. He smoothed the letter out in a failed attempt to flatten the creases. He hated that it was so hard to work up the courage to read it but he really didn't want to be disappointed. He spent about an hour staring at the letter hoping it would open on its own. It didn't.

With a deep breath he finally opened the letter and read it. The hand writing was atrocious but it still made him smile because it was written by HIS father to HIM. It was something that until recently he had never even known he could want let alone actually have. His smile only widened as he read the contents of the letter. It had occurred to him after he sent the letter that his questions however politely worded might still have been offencive but he shouldn't have worried. The letter was essentially a confession of unconditional acceptance with a heavy dose of longing alongside profuse apologies. Basically, had James known that he was still alive he never would have gone after Peter but would have tracked him down all the way to the elemental nations if he had needed to.

It was very shocking to know that his father knew about shinobi but then considering Lily had been born an Uzumaki it wasn't that surprising after all. It also meant that plan B was now plan A because he couldn't imagine, even if Sirius accepted him, leaving his father to rot when he definitely could do something about it. He had confirmed on the mini map he had created that the rat Ron kept in his pocket was indeed Peter Pettigrew during their first shared Potions lesson.

With his path decided it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders leaving him feeling drained and exhausted. He tucked the letter away safely in the password protected compartment of his trunk to prevent anyone from reading it if they came across it by accident. With a sigh he sat back shutting his eyes as the tension he had been carrying around all morning drained out of him.

He felt someone shaking him and instinctively grabbed at the kunai he kept under his pillow. With a great sense of disorientation he felt a second set of memories fill in alongside his memories from earlier. After a few moments he realized he killed his clone who had been trying to wake him up from his unintentional nap. He began to feel irrationally guilty when his memories revealed that the clone had let him sleep through all his classes. It had only woken him up because it was almost time for dinner.

His guilt intensified as he realized that had anyone other than his clone attempted to wake him he could have seriously injured them if not outright killed them. He decided to stop sleeping with kunai under his pillow and just leave his wand there instead. He didn't yet know any lethal spells so it was more likely that the worst injury anyone startling him would get was a poked eye which he was sure Madam Pomfrey would be able to heal if necessary.

With a sinking feeling he realized he had missed most of his chances to speak to Gaara but since there was still a half hour until dinner he might still be able to make it to the library before the group packed up to go to dinner. When he arrived at the library he saw that most of the study group had already left but Gaara at least was still waiting with Hannah and Justin.

As soon as they saw him coming Hannah and Justin stood to leave waving to him as they passed by.

"You missed study group," Gaara stated looking mildly concerned.

"I fell asleep," he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way before changing the subject, "I saw you got a letter from Sirius this morning."

With a sigh Gaara crossed his arms, "He said you should write to him yourself rather than have me do it for you, though he did say to congratulate you on embracing the Slytherin mindset."

He was a little upset that Sirius knew he had made Gaara write the letter but he was also pretty sure Gaara had written something to that effect since he had been reluctant to test the waters with Sirius. It did seem promising though that Sirius hadn't just outright disowned him. He was still going to make freeing his father the new plan A whether Sirius accepted him or not. Bonus result was that Sirius would be so pleased that he had gotten James free from Azkaban that even if he was planning to disown him he would be too distracted to follow through.

"I'll think about writing him," he told Gaara making sure he didn't promise anything as he was still unsure if he really wanted to.

Gaara nodded his approval as he began to pack his things away to head down to dinner considering his message delivered.

"Do you ever speak with Ronald Weasley?" he couldn't think of a way to be less blunt.

Gaara paused in his packing, "Sometimes."

He fidgeted a little wondering if he was relying on Gaara too much to help him solve his own problems, "never mind, it's not important."

"Obviously," Gaara said clearly not believing him.

"I need Ron's rat," he decided that if Gaara had any issues with being asked favours he would say so.

He met Gaara's eyes and as usual Gaara was able to put the pieces together from just the expression on his face.

"You've decided to go with plan B," Gaara stated.

"No, I've decided on a new plan A," he smiled.

Gaara's shoulders lost some of the tension they had gathered, "I'll see what I can do."

They headed down to dinner. When they reached the great hall he stopped Gaara just to the side of the doors by pulling on his elbow.

"Just in case, Ron is apparently very afraid of spiders," he noted.

All he got in response was a disapproving frown before Gaara went to sit at the Hufflepuff table. He made his own way to Slytherin and took his usual place next to Draco.

"Are you worried about having to meet with Dumbledore?" Draco asked as soon as he sat down.

Before answering he pointedly filled his plate with food and took a bite. He glanced at Draco to find him looking rather offended at being ignored even if it was only briefly.

"I don't see why I should be nervous. I haven't done anything," he shrugged, "I'm more curious than anything."

"I don't think he needs you to have done something," Pansy said earnestly, "If it means damaging Slytherin's success or reputation he won't let something like a legitimate reason stop him."

"Don't say anything that will make him take points," Daphne added while Theodore nodded his agreement.

"I really don't think that he is specifically out to get Slytherin," seeing their disbelieving looks he sighed, "but I will keep everything you've said in mind."

"That's all we ask," Draco added importantly.

He took the opportunity to work on eating some of his food. He would need to leave dinner early if he hoped to get to the meeting with Dumbledore on time.

"So what do you think Dumbeldore wants?" Theodore asked.

"Probably to find out where Hadrian came from," Daphne replied.

"Or maybe he wants to compare notes as defeaters of dark lords," Pansy said as the tensions eased.

The rest of the first years continued to come up with amusing and unlikely reasons for the meeting. By the time he excused himself from the table he was feeling much better about the meeting. He knew none of their reasons were likely but it still brought the situation into a better perspective. He may think of the headmaster as senile but he wasn't evil. He had faced worse foes than Dumbledore, like Orochimaru, who he had probably killed though he had seen a crater not a body so he couldn't actually be sure.

He found the gargoyle statue on the seventh floor and stood in front of it for a few minutes. He tried knocking but nothing happened. He was ashamed that it took him a few minutes to realize the reference to ice mice was a password.

"Ice mice," with relief he watched as stairs appeared.

He went up the stairs into a small alcove in front of large double wooden doors. With only slight trepidation he knocked on the wooden doors which opened immediately to let him in.

The Headmaster's office was a grand space filled with portraits of all the previous headmasters sleeping, or pretending to at the very least. Dumbledore sat behind his elaborately carved desk covered with shining silver instruments.

"Ah, Harry my boy," Dumbledore greeted as though he was surprised by his visit, "It is good to see you, have a seat."

He took the chair that Dumbledore had gestured to, "Lemon drop?"

He shook his head not interested in the bowl of candy the Headmaster had held out to him. He sat across from Dumbledore looking down at the carvings on the desk so he wouldn't have to meet his eyes. He heard the glass bowl clink against the wood as it was set back down on the desk.

"I'm sure you are aware of why I have asked to speak with you today," Dumbledore began.

He glanced up quickly and then away again, "no sir, I don't."

Dumbledore put on a benevolent smile while he saw the twinkling in his eyes get a bit brighter in his peripheral vision, "I simply wanted to ask how you were finding Hogwarts."

"It is fine, sir," he said letting some confusion colour his voice.

The meeting wasn't going quite like he had thought it would go not that he'd had a clear idea to begin with. Then it occurred to him that he might have been a bit too abrupt in his answers. He didn't want to make the Headmaster dislike him after all.

"I've been enjoying the challenge of learning magic. I never knew it existed before I got my letter. It was really surprising," he tried for a nervous looking smile.

Dumbledore's demeanour seemed to get a little softer as he smiled kindly at him, "I'm glad to hear you like it. I noticed you were making friends outside of Slytherin. It is a rare student who seeks out companions who are not in their house. It speaks highly of your character that you don't limit yourself to only one viewpoint. I know that some of the Slytherin students hold a rigid view on what makes someone worthy of magic. It is good to know that you do not hold to such views."

"Thank you, sir."

"It is no matter, but now I must get to the reason I have requested to speak with you this evening. I have understood from Severus and the house elves that your trunk has not yet been searched," Dumbledore said while slumping in his chair as though reluctant to voice his concerns.

"Well, sir, it's like I told Professor Snape, I value my privacy very highly so I made sure before I arrived to look up all the information that I could find regarding school rules. Because there is no requirement for my personal belongings to be searched I would prefer that they remain private," he said in what he thought was an earnest tone of voice.

"I understand my boy, but the trunks are searched in order to maintain the safety of the students," Dumbledore wouldn't quit.

"I read there are wards that prevent anything dangerous from entering Hogwarts' grounds, aren't there, sir?" he played innocent.

"Indeed there are Harry, but they do not cover banned items. I seem to recall that Sirius and your father were quite the avid pranksters in their day," the Headmaster got a fond faraway look as he recalled what were, if Sirius was to be believed, some of his favourite students.

"I can assure you I brought no pranks, I had more than enough experience with pranks over the summer, sir," the Headmaster chuckled like they had just shared an inside joke between them.

He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, "Can I leave now sir? My friends are waiting to study together and it's getting pretty late."

"Of course, my boy and remember that my door is always open should you ever need help," Dumbledore said frowning.

"Thank you sir, I will remember," he said standing with a smile.

He had to actively stop himself from running from the room. He thought he did a fairly good job of acting casual until he got to the bottom of the stairs. Once he was out of view of the gargoyle he hurried back to the common room as quickly as he could manage without actually running. His friends might have been on to something with regards to the Headmaster's view of Slytherin. He didn't honestly believe the Headmaster had let the matter of searching his trunk drop either, he was sure the Headmaster was just taking time to come up with a reason to force him to show the trunk despite what the school rules said about the matter.

As he entered the common room he found that the other first years were all waiting for him at their usual study table. He would have assumed they were just working on homework had they not all turned to look at him as soon as he entered the room. He could see the greedy need for gossip in Pansy's eyes. It was almost enough to make him want to leave the room again.

He went to his usual seat resigned to telling them what had happened.

He explained the conversation he had with Dumbledore to his friendly acquaintances curious how their points of view might differ from his own.

…

"See? I told you Dumbledore hates Slytherin. So glad you were willing to be friends with the Hufflepuffs instead of your evil house mates," Pansy sneered the words, clearly offended.

"You should be careful Hadrian, Dumbledore seems to be taking an unhealthy interest in you," Daphne advised.

"Believe me, I am well aware of that after today's meeting," he confided.

"You'll need to make sure you don't break any school rules that could lose us house points," Theodore advised always looking out for Slytherin first then as if it was an afterthought, "or give him due cause to search your trunk."

"My Father says Dumbledore cares more about his political career than being a competent Headmaster," Draco supplied his own opinion.

"So in conclusion, Dumbledore is suspicious and I should make efforts to stay on his good side," Hadrian summarized.

"Exactly," Pansy nodded her approval.

They got out their textbooks and began the nights study/gossip session. As the time passed he was a bit worried that Draco seemed to be quieter than usual but dismissed his initial worry when the studay session ended without further comment.

He followed the other boys into the dorm before excusing himself to the washroom. He noticed Draco following him but waited until they were alone in the washroom to acknowledge him.

"Now that I think about it I've never actually seen your trunk," Draco said.

"I've mentioned before that I value my privacy," he repeated once again.

He was beginning to feel that privacy was a foreign concept in the magical world.

"We are friends," Draco pointed out looking a little hurt.

He needed to find a way to keep Draco at a distance without offending him. He still wouldn't trust Draco or the other first year Slytherins but he did need them on his side and genuinely enjoyed their company.

He sighed and proceeded to mostly tell the truth, "At first I was just hiding the fact I had brought the broom Sirius bought me by not letting them search my trunk. But then they just made such a big deal about searching my trunk in particular that it has become about the principle of the thing. They have no right to search my trunk so I take my trunk everywhere with me to ensure they never get the opportunity."

Though it made him uncomfortable he pulled out his shrunken trunk to show Draco that it was always on him. He was hoping that since Draco had seen it he wouldn't try to push him to see inside it. In fact, Draco started smiling like he had won something, or gotten proof of something.

"You do know they already supposedly searched my trunk and found the broom I brought, so you probably wouldn't get in trouble for having it," Draco advised.

"I know, but like I said, it's the principle."

"Just remember not to take things too far, we all want to stay on Dumbledore's not bad side," Draco said before returning to the dorm to turn in for the night.


	11. Chapter 11

After their conversation following his meeting with Dumbledore things with Draco and the other Slytherins went back to normal. His routine once again fell into place with little outside interference from Dumbledore or Snape. The first couple of weeks following the meeting he had been worried that he might have been hasty to throw the rules in Dumbledore's face like he had, even if he had tried to be polite about it. But no new meetings had been scheduled and no one had asked to see his trunk so by now he had begun to feel more confident that he hadn't made an error in dealing with Dumbledore.

It distracted him from sparring with Gaara when he felt the proximity wards, which he had recently learnt to cast, alert him to the presence of someone at the end of the hallway where the training room was located. No one ever came down this way normally, that was why they had chosen it in the first place. It was especially suspicious that someone would be in the area now. It was Halloween and with the feast currently going on in the great hall, everyone who wasn't them should have been there. Halloween was a holiday that wasn't celebrated in any of the elemental nations as far as he knew.

With his momentary lack of attention a wave of Gaara's sand knocked him to the floor hard. He groaned at the bruises he could already feel forming.

"Why aren't you paying attention?" Gaara asked harshly.

Gaara always fell back into his cold and ruthless persona when they trained. It had served him well as a shinobi and helped him to maintain distance from the fact he was attacking such an important friend. With a half-hearted glare he stood back up and dusted off some of the sand that was now covering his robes.

"The proximity wards I put up just went off," he said looking at the door as if it would open to reveal a disgruntled teacher any second.

"Are you sure that you cast them right?" he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Gaara who continued to elaborate, "This was the first time we were testing them. It is unlikely that anyone would be down here instead of at the Halloween feast."

They had chosen to skip the feast because they didn't feel the need to gorge themselves on candy at dinner as well as breakfast and lunch. They had gone directly to the kitchens near the Hufflepuff common room to get a few sandwiches before training. They had made their excuses to their house mates who couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to eat candy for dinner. Draco in particular had seemed overly disgruntled. He was sure the other boy wouldn't stop whining about it for the next several days not that he intended to pay attention to it. In fact, he was already thinking of excuses he could use to hang out with Gaara more often in the coming week or two.

Upset that the wards he had been practising might not have been working he pulled out the map to check the corridor. He was shocked to see that the dot marked as professor Quirrell was walking past the training room before turning a corner and heading toward the great hall where the dots were too tightly packed to be able to read anyones name clearly.

He turned to Gaara, "Why would Quirrell be in this area of the castle tonight?"

They shared a look that conveyed the sense of wrong that they both felt. As far as they had explored around the training room there should be nothing in the direction the Professor had come from other than more abandoned dungeon rooms. It was only a moment later when they felt a slight vibration from the floor, followed closely by another. He hurried over to the door knowing that Quirrell was far enough past their training room that he wouldn't be able to interfere with them if they got caught up in a bit of a ruckus.

He stepped into the hallway, Gaara hovering just inside the doorway to the room. He could smell an overwhelmingly foul stench filling the hallway. He was not able to keep the look of utter disgust off his face as he turned back to Gaara.

"Have you ever smelled anything so awful?" he asked Gaara who only shook his head backing further into the room his nose crinkled in distaste.

He looked down the way Quirrell had gone first which in hindsight was a terrible decision. As he turned to look the way Quirrell had come there was grunting and the sounds of heavy footfalls accompanying the continued vibrations in the floor. He moved back into the room as the silhouette of something very large became visible through the shadows of the sparsely lit corridor. Then the thing passed directly in front of one of the torches kept lit in the unused areas of the dungeons.

It had to be one of the most intimidating things he had yet seen. It looked like a twelve-foot tall lumpy stone coloured thing with thick leathery skin. Not only did it smell repulsive but the proportions of its body were all wrong. Its legs were fat and stumpy, the arms long and lanky, and the head a tiny bald sphere on its otherwise large barrel-like torso. To make things worse it was dragging a massive wooden club behind it. He had no doubt given the thing's size that if they were hit by the club even with the increased durability that chakra provided they would be left with several broken bones at a minimum.

He inched back into the training room hoping he hadn't been noticed as he slowly closed the door as quietly as he could possibly manage. A part of him wanted to try fighting whatever it was to test himself and his training, another part of him couldn't see how he could possibly kill that thing without giving away the fact that he was trained in combat beyond what anyone not raised as a shinobi would be capable of. Certainly, as a first year even with reading ahead he did not have nearly enough knowledge of spells to hope to fight the thing with magic.

The decision however was taken out of his hands as the door to the room came flying toward him and Gaara. His instincts warned him to get out of the way just in time for the door to miss him. While Gaara brought up a wall of sand to prevent the door from hitting him.

"What do we do?" asked Gaara hiding his emotions behind a flawless mask of calm.

He had no idea but he worried the teachers would come hunting for the creature. If they found it in this room they would also find their wards and all of the weapons he had stashed here in case he was forced to reveal his trunk at some point. He quickly decided that they needed to lead the thing somewhere else until the teachers arrived to help them get rid of it.

"We run," he said already heading for the door.

He was lucky the stupid lump was so slow as he was able to get past quickly with a burst of chakra to his legs to help him run faster. Garaa wasn't far behind him. He glanced back over his shoulder and was glad to see that it was following them away from the training room. He let out a relieved sigh as he and Gaara easily stayed ahead of it.

After he was sure it would keep following them he led it up the stairs toward the entrance to the dungeons in the hope that they would cross paths with one of the teachers. He wasn't overly fearful of the creature as he was sure they would have no problem outrunning it. He wasn't even out of breath yet. Then an idea suddenly struck him.

He spun around almost colliding with Gaara who was just behind him also not looking very afraid.

"What are you doing?" Gaara sounded annoyed.

He smiled at his best friend, "I know how a first year can win, watch this."

Pulling out his wand he swished and flicked, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The club it was holding levitated away from the monster's hand and floated in front of its head. The ugly thing blinked stupidly while he moved the club from side to side for his own amusement. When the monster let out a frustrated bellow he finally used the spell to lift the club above its head. Once it was positioned correctly he let the spell end with a thought. A sickening crack echoed through the corridor as the club fell onto the tiny head. He and Gaara had to back up quickly to avoid being crushed as it fell forward knocked unconscious by its own weapon. He lent against Garaa as the adrenaline began to leave his system smiling in satisfaction at his own cleverness.

They were just turning to go back to their common rooms when they heard the sounds of multiple running feet. They shared a resigned glance as Professor McGonagall came hurrying down the hallway closely followed by Snape and Quirrell. The teachers all stopped when the saw the creature laying on the floor with blood and snot leaking from its nose.

Snape pushed his way past the others making sure to glare at Hadrian as he passed as if he had personally allowed the thing into the school. He went over to the creature to inspect it while Professor McGonagall stared at them clutching her chest. He hadn't seen someone look at him with that much anger since he had left the village. But he could sense that behind the anger there was genuine worry which was new but becoming more familiar the longer he spent in the wizarding world.

"What could you both have been thinking?" she said coldly, "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in the dormitory with the rest of your houses?"

He barely stopped himself from scoffing, he didn't feel he or Gaara had really been in anywhere near enough danger that their lives were at risk. They hadn't even broken a sweat running, nor had they been running as fast as they were able to. But as the teachers didn't know even a fraction of what they were capable of he adopted a contrite expression looking down at his feet.

"I'm sorry Professor," he said keeping his voice soft, "Garaa and I wanted to spend some time together during the feast. We rarely get to just talk to each other alone because we are in different houses."

Snape made no effort to disguise the sneer in his voice, "You expect us to believe you, Potter. I know for a fact you study with Mr. Sabaku almost every evening after classes."

"Yes, but not alone, the rest of the Hufflepuffs are there also," He glanced up a Snape barely holding back from glaring.

"We don't celebrate Halloween, we were going back to our dorms when this thing came from one of those hallways," Gaara added gesturing vaguely behind the troll.

"Exactly," he agreed, "We started running but it was chasing us and then I remembered the spell Professor Flitwick had been teaching us and levitated the club onto its head."

"You were extremely lucky to have survived. Not many adult wizards could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll with a first year spell and survived. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this," McGonagall told them sternly her lips still white from pressing them together so hard.

He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach but took solace in the fact they hadn't lost any points or been given a detention right away.

"You will find that Slytherin has taken shelter with the Hufflepuffs in their common room to finish the feast," Quirrell said rising from the floor at last where he had collapsed with a whimper upon seeing the troll.

"Thank you, Professors," he said.

McGonagall nodded stiffly in dismissal, "Good night, Mr. Potter, Mr. Sabaku."

Without speaking he followed Gaara to the Hufflepuff common room. He felt kind of excited to see where Gaara spent most of his time when he wasn't with him as outsiders were rarely invited into other houses' common rooms.

The Hufflepuff common room was a cozy low ceilinged den. All the furniture was decorated in creamy light earth-tones. There were plants on almost every shelf and table as well as poufs and large pillows for those who weren't lucky enough to sit on one of the many cushioned couches piled around the walls. There were at least three fireplaces around the room leading to a very warm lit up room.

When he and Gaara stepped through the entrance to Hufflepuff they were immediately surrounded by the other students and not just the other first years as he had expected. Everyone wanted to know if they had seen the troll or in the case of the upper year slytherins if he had lost them any house points. He was warmed inside by the obvious relief on the faces of his friends and made sure to assure the upper years that no points were taken. It was nice knowing that they liked him enough to worry even when he wasn't wearing the masks he had once worn for the villagers of the hidden leaf.

He happily but with an outward air of reluctance relayed the story of their encounter with the troll and how it was the first charm taught to first year students that had saved them. Gaara was mostly content to let him tell the story which he made sure followed the facts of the encounter but kept any details of where they had been or what they had been doing as a secret. Many of the older students he noted looked impressed which could only help to elevate his status in Slytherin in the coming years. He didn't want to always rely on Draco to elevate his status among his peers.

Once he had finished relating the events of the evening the older students drifted away to continue the feast in their own friend groups leaving the path clear for the other first years to crowd around them.

"I'm glad you managed not to die," Pansy told him when she reached him.

"But fighting the troll, even in a clever way, was still a stupidly Gryffindor thing to do," Draco added with a relieved smile.

"What Draco isn't saying is that he was horribly worried about you. The poor thing couldn't even eat," Daphne smirked at Draco while linking her arm with his.

"Noted, I will try to be more considerate of Draco's nerves if I should happen to be faced with another troll in the future," he said causing the other first years to smile or laugh depending on their natures.

He was satisfied to see the last of the lingering tension and worry leave the faces of his fellow first years. Draco was pouting but thankfully didn't make a scene likely due to the presence of the Hufflepuffs. He allowed Daphne to pull him by their linked arms toward the area the first years had claimed for themselves to finish the feast which had been spread across all of the tables in the common room. Gaara and his Hufflepuffs took the seats across the table from them as Draco slipped into the seat beside him.

"So,out of curiosity, what were you and Gaara up to while you were missing the feast?" Justin asked.

He filled his plate with a few of the savoury options available amid the copious amounts of candy before answering with a shrug, "We were talking in one of the empty classrooms between our common rooms."

"That's kind of boring," Ernie sighed.

"Too boring, what were you doing really? Pansy leaned around Daphne sensing gossip.

"I assure you we were doing nothing worthy of gossipping over. We were really just talking," he assured her looking bored.

With a sharp look she let it go but he knew he wouldn't be hearing the last of her. Luckily, their usual training time was far earlier than Pansy would ever wake up. He smiled back before changing the subject to one of the essays they were meant to be working on for history of magic which they all shared.

He was surprised how well the Hufflepuffs and his Slytherin year mates got along considering how the Slytherins still stubbornly refused to join the study group. He hoped that after the feast they would be friendly enough with each other that the Slytherins would start coming to the library if only to save himself from having to go over every assignment for their shared classes twice, once with each group.

Tuning out of the discussion about the assignments he had already finished he decided to treat himself to some candy for dessert. It was Halloween after all. He took a chocolate frog from the pile making sure he caught it before it could land on anything unsanitary, like the floor.

He felt his lip curl in disgust as he saw a picture of the Headmaster smiling benevolently from the face of the card. Not wanting to look at the man he flipped the card. Though he couldn't care less about the defeat of a dark lord years before he was born he did find himself intrigued about the twelve uses of dragon's blood. He wondered how many of the uses were in potions which was one of his strongest subjects even if the teacher left a great deal to be desired. He resolved to look up the uses of dragon's blood and maybe alchemy just in case the two were related.

After a couple of hours Snape came into the Hufflepuff common room to lead the Slytherins back to their own common room so they could go to sleep in their own beds. He wasn't the only person grateful they wouldn't need to sleep on the floor or share with a Hufflepuff though he would have been luckier than many since he had Gaara to bunk with if it had been necessary.

The next day found the Slytherins following him to the library to study with the Hufflepuffs and Neville. The Slytherins had deemed the Hufflepuffs tolerable the night before which meant they were now willing to give his study group a try bit made no promises about continuing to come if they didn't find value in the 'Puffs' contributions.

He just rolled his eyes and led the way to their regular table before going into the shelves to search for some books to help him with his research into he uses of dragon's blood. Not knowing what the uses of dragon's blood were he wasn't sure what section the books would be in. For now, he decided to get a book on alchemy because it made some sense that the uses might have been found while Dumbledore was working on Alchemy with his partner though he also accepted this could be wrong as the partner hadn't been mentioned in relation to the dragon's blood just the alchemy. Either way he thought it was a good starting point.

He pulled out a book on Alchemy for beginners and started reading the introduction. The Introduction of the book was basically a sales pitch for the study of Alchemy. It started with a brief overview of why it was useful and worth your time before going into noted alchemists and the various feats they accomplished through the study and application of alchemy. It was at the end of the introduction that he found an answer he had been searching for, for months.

He felt a wide grin spread across his face as he read that Nicholas Flamel, Dumbledore's partner, was best known for creating the ultimate cheat through alchemy. The philosopher's stone, eternal life and wealth, he could do a lot with that. He closed the book and went back to the study group debating if he should tell Gaara what he had found or keep it to himself.

In the end he had decided to tell Gaara about the stone during training the next morning. Gaara seemed to know that there was no way he was returning the stone so he didn't even bother to suggest that option. They agreed to keep the information to themselves and do nothing with the stone, just keep it safe in his trunk as they had already been doing. With any luck the stone might be able to help him have his life as a shinobi and as a wizard depending on how the stone worked. He would need to be especially sneaky in trying to research exactly how the stone produced the elixir of life and how that elixir extended his life. The last thing he needed was Dumbledore getting overly suspicious.


End file.
